


Chains of Emotion

by CinnamonStyx



Category: Animal Man, Black Canary (Comics), DCU, Justice League - All Media Types, Metamorpho (Comics), New Gods (Comics), Power Girl (Comics), Shazam! | Captain Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Black Mercy, Dreams, Dreams and Nightmares, Earth-2, Gen, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2020-12-14 00:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21006413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonStyx/pseuds/CinnamonStyx
Summary: Six reserve members of the Justice League are sent to investigate disappearances at an archaeological dig site in India. But they fall into the clutches of Psycho-Pirate, a man who feeds off the emotions of others. Using an alien plant called Black Mercy, Psycho-Pirate traps them in warped versions of paradise and strange nightmares. Follow Animal Man, Metamorpho, Black Canary, Power Girl, Captain Marvel, and Big Barda as they try to escape.





	1. Ensnared

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my last few stories have been shortish, primarily comedy focused, and feature supervillains are main or secondary characters. I'm trying to do something different now. I picked out a large group of superheroes I like and chose which ones would be the most fun to write about. I'm trying to go for an at least semi-serious multichapter story. There's no set update schedule for this, but hopefully, I do well.

**San Diego**

The life of Buddy Baker was surrounded by constant chaos. Of course when you're a superhero, activist, and stuntman that's to be expected. But on a nice peaceful Saturday when him and his wife didn't have any work and his kids didn't have any schoolwork to do it seemed like there'd finally be peace in the Baker residence.

It was Buddy's wife Ellen who'd suggested they play board games together. Despite Cliff's protests of board games being "Lame" overwhelming support from Maxine overruled him.

And so that was how the Baker family found themselves wrapped up in a thrilling game of Scrabble.

"Cliff! No spelling out rude words with the scrabble pieces." Ellen crossed her arms, glaring at her son. "Maxine's right here."

"Jeez mom, it was just a joke." Cliff sighed and took back the Scrabble tiles spelling out "Ass" in big capital letters. "I'll go f'real now."

"I thought it was kinda funny." Maxine looked up at her parents.

"Well sweetie, that means Cliff's a bad influence on you." Buddy chuckled, patting his daughter on the head.

"There, I spelled a real word now." Cliff finished placing down tiles to spell the word "Dodo".

"That's not a real word." Maxine scrunched up her face.

"Yeah it is." Cliff argued. "As in 'dodo bird'. Ask dad, he's an animal expert."

"Well, I wouldn't say expert." Buddy smiled. "But Cliff's right, it is a real wo-"

Buddy was cut off mid-sentence when he felt a strange invasive presence he felt in the back of his head. "Ah!" He grabbed the back of his head like he wanted to shake whatever was in there out.

"Oh my god, Buddy! What's the matter." Ellen put a hand on his shoulder.

_"Animal Man, you're needed in the Watchtower."_ the oh-so-familiar voice of Martian Manhunter was projected into his head. No matter what, Buddy could just not get used to these psychic link-ups.

_"What do you need me for this time?"_

_"Something's come up and nobody else is available. We need you to get up here."_

_"Alright, alright, I'll be there… Just please get out of my head."_

Martian Manhunter's presence vanished from his head and Buddy stood up from the couch. "Sorry guys, I need to go."

"Are you okay, daddy?" Maxine stood up and tugged at her father's pant leg.

"I'm okay, Maxine. That was Martian Manhunter, you know, the green guy. He was sending a message into my brain." Buddy pointed at his head. "You three can keep playing without me. Hopefully, I won't be gone too long."

"Be careful out there." Ellen nodded.

"And kick some a- some butt for us!" Cliff added.

"Alright Cliff, I will." Buddy smiled and started making his way to the basement where the teleporter was kept. "Oh, Ellen, did you wash my suit?"

"Yeah, should be in the dryer. Your jacket's on the coathanger by the way."

"Thanks Ellen, have fun without me!" Buddy went to go gather up his items, only moderately peeved about having to end his game early.

*******

**The Pacific Ocean**

The sun shone brightly over a sparkling blue ocean, there weren't any annoying gulls in sight, and, best of all, Simon Stagg was hundreds of miles away. Rex Mason was enjoying himself right now, spread out on a deck chare and staring at the beautiful blue sky. After all this time as "Metamorpho, the Element Man" he'd managed to (At least somewhat) accept his strange state.

When he saw the gorgeous Sapphire Stagg climb out of the sea and onto the boat he was given another reason to be happy.

"Hey Sapph, see anything down there?" Metamorpho sat up in his chair.

"I found a conch shell. Check it out!" Sapphire took off her scuba mask and placed a soaking wet conch down next to Rex.

"Wow, nice. That'll make a good souvenir." Metamorpho placed a hand on Sapphire's cheek.

"You should really come diving Rexy. It's fun." Sapphire kissed Metamorpho on the cheek.

"Oh no, not doing that." Metamorpho quickly shook his head. "Soon as I go down there we're gonna discover some kinda sunken ship or underwater supervillain base. I'm not in the mood for fighting Black Manta today."

"But Rex, what're the chances of that?"

"With my track record, very high. There's not gonna be any adventures today. No Outsiders, no Terrifics, no Metamorpho. Today I'm just plain old Rex Mason. And there aren't gonna be any superhero adventures for me up on this boat."

"I'm okay with that. Nothing beats relaxing in the sun."

_"Metamorpho, you're needed in the Watchtower. We're calling in any JLA reserve members we can find."_

"Ah Jesus!" Metamorpho sat bolt upright in his chair, startling Sapphire.

"Rexy, are you okay?"

"It's Martian Manhunter, he's screwing around with my head. Hold on…"

_"This is kind of a bad time, J'onn. I'm on a yacht with my girlfriend."_

_"Does the yacht have a teleporter?"_

_"Yeah, but-"_

_"It's an urgent matter, Mason."_

_"Fine, fine, I'll be there."_

Metamorpho got out of the deck chair. "Sorry Sapph, duty calls. Have some fun in the sun without me, I gotta head on up to the Watchtower."

"Alright Rexy, we'll spend some more time together tonight." Sapphire nodded.

"Thanks babe, see you later." Rex planted one last kiss on Sapphire's cheek before heading off to the transporter.

*******

**Fawcett City**

The rain had come to Fawcett City, a powerful storm went on outside. But there was just as much fun to be had inside. Billy Batson had been playing video games for a couple of hours now, passing the one controller back and forth between him and Freddy. Mary had just come in to check on them and had become enthralled in watching the two of them play.

"Gee Billy, this game sure is violent. What did you say it was called again?" despite Mary's mild disgust at the game she had not been able to take her eyes off the screen.

"It's called GTA, short for Grand Theft Auto." Freddy replied, figuring Billy was too wrapped up in the game to respond himself.

"Yeah, uncle Dudley bought it for us. Isn't he cool?" Billy nodded, still only half focused on Mary and Freddy.

"Don't call him our uncle. He's just an old guy who hangs out with us sometimes." Mary glanced over at Billy.

"Yeah, but not in a creepy way. He's like Doc Brown in Back to the Future." Freddy added.

Mary nodded and looked at the screen as Billy's character in the game attacked what appeared to be gangsters with a shotgun.

"You think I can have a turn?"

"Yeah, sure. Lemme just finish this one-" Billy stopped talking when he suddenly felt like someone else in the room.

_"Batson, your presence is requested in the watchtower. There's a situation that needs dealing with."_

_"Holy moley, you never give a guy a break, do you?"_

_"As they say, justice never sleeps."_

_"Alright, I'll be there. Do Mary and Freddy need to be there?"_

_"No, we'll just need you. See you soon."_

Billy was flung back into reality when he heard Freddy again. "Billy, you just died. You okay?" He looked up at the screen and saw that his avatar in the game had indeed been gunned down. "You look kinda distracted."

"Just got a message from the League, apparently they need me up in the Watchtower." Billy handed off the controller to Mary. "See you guys later."

"Good luck Billy, don't have too much fun without us." Mary smiled and looked down at the controller, wanting to get a hang of the buttons.

"I'll try." Billy smirked and looked up at the ceiling, preparing to transform himself. "_Shazam!_"

With the usual flash of light and loud noise, Billy Batson was transformed into his superpowered muscle-man persona.

"Good luck out there, Captain." Freddy smirked at Billy.

"I'm not going by Captain Marvel anymore, remember? I came up with that name when I was ten." Billy stated in a hushed tone, seeming a little embarrassed. "My name is _Shazam_ now, okay?"

"What am I supposed to call myself now? _'Shazam Junior'_?" Freddy asked. "And Mary can't call herself _'Mary Shazam'_, there's no alliteration."

"We can worry about alliteration later guys, I need to fly up into space." Billy turned around and went to discretely leave the house.

After Billy was gone for long enough, Mary looked back up at the screen and started messing around with the controller.

"So… I can steal any car I want in this game, eh?"

"You can do a whole lot of things. It's pretty neat."

*******

**Star City**

Last night had been a hectic blur for Dinah Lance. And not in a fun way. She'd had to do a mission with the Birds of Prey to stop someone like Blockbuster or Solomon Grundy. It had all happened so fast she barely remembered now. After that, she had to rush cross-country to Star City and meet up with her husband.

But after that, things had gotten a lot better for Dinah. The last several hours had been spent in bed next to Oliver, simply enjoying each other's company. She didn't even know what time it was, the curtains in their bedroom were drawn. Frankly, she didn't care all that matter was that she got to relax with someone that she loved.

They hadn't even really spoken in hours, all Dinah and Oliver had been doing was lying there snuggle up against each other. But verbal communication wasn't even vital, that's how well connected the two of them felt. There was absolutely nothing that could ruin this moment.

_"Dinah, something's come up. We need you up in the Watchtower."_

"Ah!" Dinah shrieked and sat up.

"Hmm… What?! Dinah!" Oliver shot up in bed. "Are we under attack? Is it Vertigo? Merlyn? Where are my arrows?!"

"It's- It's okay Ollie. J'onn's doing that psychic link thing he does."

"Oh, thank god…" Oliver collapsed back on to the bed.

_"Sorry about that, you called at a bad time. I'm in my underwear right now."_ Dinah got out of bed while continuing the mental conversation.

_"My apologies, I didn't mean to interrupt anything."_

_"It's fine, I'm up now. I'll be in the Watchtower."_ Dinah went and opened the curtains, figuring it was about time to let some light into the house. _"Just need to get my costume on."_

_"I'll be waiting for you."_

Dinah sighed and walked back over to the bed. "Hey Ollie, it turns out the JLA needs Black Canary right now."

"Hmm… Alright…" Oliver's eyes slowly adjusted to the new level of light. "Good luck out there."

"Thanks, see you tonight." Dinah kissed Oliver on the cheek and made her way to the closet, with the goal of getting dressed in mind.

*******

**New York City**

The life of a superhero was supposed to be exciting, glamorous, an endless adventure. But right now, Karen Starr was just bored. She'd been flying around the city for nearly an hour and nothing notable had happened. Not even a goddamn cat stuck up in a tree.

Currently, she had taken a seat on top of a rather lonely gargoyle at a church and was just watching the rest of the city go by. She sighed, because at least it gave her body something to do.

"I wonder what Firestorm's up to?"

Karen looked down at the streets below. It was then that she could see someone waving down at her from the courtyard of the church. Listening in, her enhanced senses even let her hear them.

"Yo! Are you that lady I saw on the news?"

Immediately sensing something interesting, Power Girl zipped down until she was right in front of the guy who called out to her.

"That's right, name's Power Girl. Always nice to meet a fan." She extended a hand to the young man.

"Uh, yeah. You're the superhero with the big boobs, right?" The man had a big goofy smile on his face.

Power Girl sighed a little and looked down at her chest. Sure, she liked her breasts as much as the next guy. She'd even go as far as to say that she was proud of them. It wasn't like she put a big hole in her costume for no reason. She just wished the general public knew more about her than just that.

"Yes… Yes, I have those." Karen said in a complete deadpan.

"Can I get a picture?"

"Sure, gives me something to do."

"Sweet!" he takes out his phone and tries to get a picture of the two of them.

Power Girl did her best to look enthusiastic about it. Just as the photo is taken she felt something invading her brain.

_"This is Martian Manhunter. Your presence is requested on the Watchtower."_

_"Finally, something interesting to do. I'll be there!"_

Karen looked to her apparent fan. "Well, it's been nice chatting. But I've got to go see the Justice League!" She hovered up into the sky and flew off. Even as she left she was sure she heard the man's camera go off again. She sighed and flew faster toward her destination.

*******

**New Hampshire**

There were many customs of Earth that both Apokolips and New Genesis lacked. But these customs were something that Big Barda and Scott Free enjoyed immensely. One such tradition was reality TV. Something Barda and Scott were always excited to watch every night.

Barda was less familiar to Earth than her husband and was under the impression that everything in these shows was absolutely real. Scott used to be the same way until Blue Beetle explained to him a lot of stuff was faked. Still, he had his doubts about it.

"We should be on this show." Barda ate a piece of popcorn, engrossed in the latest episode of _'The Amazing Race'_. "I think we could win."

"Of course we'd win. You can lift up trucks and I'm the world's greatest escape artist. It wouldn't really be fair to the others." Scott smiled up at his wife.

"You're right." Barda nodded. "Maybe they should make something like… _The Amazing Race: Superhero Edition_. Me and you, Batman and Robin…"

"You know Barda, you might be on to something."

"Of course I'm onto something, it's a great idea."

Barda ate another large handful of popcorn right as the show went into a commercial break. She was considering getting up to get some water during the break right when she felt pressure in her brain.

_"Hello J'onn, what do you need?"_ Barda mentally sighed.

_"Hope I'm not interrupting, Barda."_

_"I'm watching TV with Scott."_

_"We need you up on the Watchtower."_

_"Alright, I'll be there."_

Barda stood up from the couch. "Scott, I just got a call from the Martian Manhunter. I need to go see him."

"Aww, again?" Scott whined. "Alright, well, I'll catch you up on the Amazing Race when you get back."

"Thank you." Barda began to leave the room. "Where did I leave my Mega-Rod?"

"Same place as it always is, your closet." Scott smiled up at his wife.

"Wonderful! Get us some takeout for dinner tonight." Barda disappeared up a set of stairs in search of her armour and Mega-Rod.

"What kind?"

"I don't remember what it's called but I like the food with the rice and chicken!"

"Got it!"

*******

**The Watchtower**

The six heroes had come to the Watchtower to report for duty, somewhat begrudgingly in some cases. They arrived by teleporter, by flying in, or in Barda's case by Boom Tube. After exchanging some grievances about showing up with each other, with the exception of Power Girl who seemed actually happy to be there, they all made their way to the monitoring room. It appeared that Martian Manhunter was already there, hunched over a computer console.

"Ah, you're here already. Good." J'onn did not look behind him but knew that they had already arrived. He slowly turned himself around. "We have an unusual assignment for you. Normally, we'd send in the regulars. But they're off dealing with a crisis on Oa."

"So what's the situation?" Buddy asked. "It had better be important, I was kind of in the middle of something."

"I think we all were." Dinah nodded.

"In India, an underground temple was discovered. Apparently it's thousands of years old." J'onn pushed a button behind him and a photo of a large stone temple that appeared to be moments away from crumbling appeared on the screen. "Normally, this wouldn't be something we would call you about. But there have been strange happenings around the site."

"So what's so important about this place that we need to get involved?" Power Girl carefully inspected the photograph.

"I was about to get to that. You see, nobody who has gone into the temple has ever come out. Except for one man, famed explorer Cave Carson." J'onn pushed another button and a photograph of a well built bearded man standing at the mouth of a cave appeared on the screen. "His team went in to explore the temple and he was the only one to make it back outside. Currently, there's an excavation going on outside the temple. Carson is still there, recovering. We need the six of you to explore this temple."

"What should we expect inside this temple?" Barda's gaze was fixed on the images on the screen.

"We don't know." J'onn turned back around to face the six heroes. "You should exercise extreme caution when moving forward. Good luck to all of you."

"Thank you." Barda nodded and turned around, looking at her new teammates. "Alright everybody, let's move out!'

*******

**India**

Thanks to the teleportation technology available with the JLA, the six were at the temple site in a matter of minutes. When they arrived, the group was in awe of the place. The photograph J'onn showed them did not do the place justice. It was an enormous building, practically carved into the wall of a canyon. Even Big Barda, a woman considered extremely tall on Earth, Apokolips and New Genesis, felt tiny compared to the building.

"Well, this is the place." Power Girl stared up at the temple. The group had caught the attention of the people excavating the site but nobody had gone to talk with them yet. "Let's find a medical area, find this Carson guy. I've heard of him before."

"I know him too." Metamorpho led the charge over to the medical tent. "Met him a few times back when I still looked, y'know, normal."

When they reached the front of the tent a man stepped out, freezing when he saw the six heroes in front of him. "Oh, jeez, you're- You're with the Justice League, right? Is Superman here?"

"That's right." Animal Man nodded to the man. "And no, he's busy."

"We're here to see Cave Carson. We've been sent to investigate the temple." Black Canary pushed herself to the front of the group.

"Oh thank god. Everyone here… We've all been on edge. Right this way please." the man beckoned them into the tent.

The Reserve Leaguers entered the tent. There seemed to be only one occupant lying in a bed near them, Cave Carson. He looked just like the photo John had shown them only a lot paler and his features seemed slightly gaunt. Carson perked up when he saw the heroes and weakly waved over to them.

"Oh hey there Rex, it's been a while…" Carson sat up in bed.

"Cave… You look terrible…" Metamorpho trailed off. "What happened to you?"

"I'm not really sure…" Carson stared up at the six heroes around his bed. "What's going on here?"

"The Justice League sent us here." Billy leaned in over his bed.

"Oh hey, you're Captain Marvel. Didn't see you there. My nephew's a big fan." Carson somewhat distractedly reaches up to shake Billy's hand.

"Uh, thank you. But it's Shazam now." Billy took Carson by the hand on shook him, trying not to hurt the already weak man with his enhanced strength. "Look, we're here to investigate the temple. What do you see inside?"

"I'm trying to think…" Carson lay back down in bed. "Me and my team, we went in and… I don't know, it was dark and wet… Next thing I know, I'm on the steps of the temple and there are these plants all over me… The workers out here found me and… I just don't know."

"Did you say something about plants? What does that mean?" Barda asked.

"I… I don't know, there was something just attached to my chest." Carson's eyes began to close. "If you go in there keep an eye out for plants. I… I need some rest now…"

In a matter of moments, Cave Carson was back in a deep sleep with the six heroes surrounding him.

"So… We don't really know what to expect in there, do we?" Dinah asked.

"Sure doesn't sound like it." Karen nodded. "We should be careful."

"Metamorpho, you should lead." Billy looked ahead at the front of the temple as soon as they exited the medical tent. "You said you used to do stuff like this.

"Yep, I'll lead the way." Rex put a look of grim determination on his face and marched forward toward the temple. "Alright people, let's go! Stay close and keep an eye out for plants."

"Whatever's inside this place… I don't think we're going to like it." Dinah felt herself already on edge, even before entering the old temple.

"We definitely won't be alone in there." Barda nodded, her hand already instinctively reaching for the Mega-Rod.

*******

The temple was dark, it hadn't seen any form of light in centuries. Natural or manmade. But that didn't matter, the temple's only resident had been down there for days and had gotten used to the darkness by now. It hadn't been pleasant, at least not at first. It still wasn't now, but had moderately improved.

The sole inhabitant of this ancient temple was one Roger Hayden, a man in a red and black motley suit and golden mask who went by the name Psycho-Pirate. The mask he wore wasn't mere decoration and the Psycho in his name didn't stand for psychopath, it stood for psychological.

Psycho-Pirate fed on emotions to sustain himself. Fear, hate, despair, joy, all of these he could control and take from other people. He'd fed well over the last several days. The emotions of Cave Carson's crew and the assorted other archaeologists made a fine supplement. But he wanted more. He wanted the emotions of heroes.

He stood up from his stone throne and looked around. A network of roots and vines was on the floor in front of him. He'd specifically put the plants there himself.

Much like the man himself, the vegetation Psycho-Pirate had planted wasn't what it seemed. The thick of weeds was unlike anything on Earth. Because it was in fact alien in origin.

Black Mercy, an interstellar plant that latches on to a host body and feeds their brain vivid dreams, whole other lives that the mind is convinced are real. Psycho-Pirate had purchased these off of a man who knew his botany, Jason Woodrue.

Of course, Psycho-Pirate wasn't just satisfied with the garden variety Black Mercy. He'd bought a special mutation that made the plant more unpredictable. It could give the host their deepest desire or worst nightmare and made the dream experienced by the host more malleable to anyone on the outside.

If all went his way, he'd have a collection of new heroes coming to him any minute now. Heroes full of delicious emotions to absorb. They were coming into his domain and they would not be getting out.

*******

It hadn't been long since the six of them entered the temple. It smelled of mold and dust built up over the years. Just like Cave Carson had said, there was strangely lush vegetation growing on the walls and ceiling. As Metamorpho led the way through the temple, they all made sure not to touch it.

"It feels like an episode of _Scooby-Doo_ in here." Billy muttered.

"Having a real estate developer be behind all this would be a nice change of pace." Power Girl nodded.

"Don't joke around you two, this is serious. People could've died here." Animal Man whispered.

"Right, let's be serious." Power Girl agreed.

"Indeed, we have no idea what might be ahead of us." Big Barda hunched herself over, not wanting her head to touch the ceiling.

They continued through the hall in silence until Metamorpho felt something odd beneath his right foot. Part of the floor pushed downward and the sound of stone grinding against stone resonating through the corridor.

"Dammit! I set off a trap!" Metamorpho exclaimed. "Everyone, get down!"

His advice turned out to be ill-advised, the section of the floor they stood on slid open leaving a seemingly bottomless stone shaft with darkness below. Gravity did its work and sent the six heroes plummeting below.

Each of them quickly went to work trying to avoid a broken neck, or at the very least some annoying bruises and scrapes. Big Barda reached for her Mega-Rod, intending to create a blast of force strong enough to cushion their fall. But her hands moved too fast and the rod slipped from her hands and out of reach.

Animal Man reached into the morphogenetic field and called upon the flight of an eagle. He flew up and tried grabbing onto Big Barda. But in his haste Buddy realized he'd actually forgotten to give himself the strength of an elephant so Barda's heavily armoured body weighed him down, sending both of them tumbling down the stone tunnel.

Captain Marvel and Power Girl were fast to recover, they flew up and tried to save their remaining teammates. Karen caught Dinah by the leg while Billy put his arms around Rex's waist.

"Up you go!" Billy cheered. "Let's get you back up and we'll go back from A-Man and Barda."

"Gee, thanks for the assist." Metamorpho said.

"Can you please not hold me upside down?" Dinah looked to the woman carrying her.

"Sorry, lemme fix that." Power Girl flipped Black Canary so that the blood no longer rushed to her head. "Everything should be-"

She never got to finish the thought. Her back had brushed up against the wall for only a moment but it was long enough for the plant growing there to attach to her. It grabbed Karen and pulled itself off the wall, coiling its roots around and clouding her vision with darkness. Her whole body went limp, ceasing to fly. She dropped Dinah in the process, both women plunging to the darkness below.

"Holy moley! We need to save them!" Billy turned around midair and swooped downward.

"Slow down, we need to-" Metamorpho was cut off when Captain Marvel's arm touched a patch of plants on the wall that quickly hooked into him, making him lose all consciousness in an instant. "Dammit, Captain!"

Rex tried to form his hands in a parachute to slow his fall but he ended up slamming into the wall of the stone shaft which gave another Black Mercy plant the chance to latch itself onto his face and render his body completely motionless.

The heroes were incapacitated, powerless in the clutches of Psycho-Pirate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this story works best if you picture it taking place on a composite continuity. Like every version of the DC universe is simultaneously canon and not canon here. I know that's confusing. Basically, I picked my favourite parts of these characters and their histories and I'm using them to write this story.
> 
> Just now, I'm realizing that our six main characters were all members of the Justice League during it's Justice League International/Justice League Europe phase. So that's pretty neat. This is my second time writing Psycho-Pirate as a villain but the first time he was more of a plot device so I hope to flesh him out now. Also, I decided to get the obligatory "Power Girl has large breasts" comment out of the way early in this story. I will be writing her as an actual character here. Anyway, that about does it for this chapter. We should be updated relatively soon.


	2. Remembering Earth-Two

The constant silence inside the temple was something Psycho-Pirate never got used to. The darkness he could handle just fine. But being alone with nothing to listen to but the sound of his footsteps and his thoughts was maddening. Of course, now he wasn't alone. The plants he acquired had captured six new friends for him.

Psycho-Pirate made his way out of the centre of the temple, his cape flowing behind him. His destination was a place he liked to call the "Holding Room". It's where everyone who was captured by the Black Mercy ended up.

He entered the room, passing Cave Carson's team tied up to the wall, and made his way to the newest catches. He looked over his captives behind his mask, examining each of them closely. Big Barda's Mega-Rod was on the ground near her so Psycho-Pirate picked it up for safe keeping.

"Who to choose… Who to choose…"

If what he'd heard was true, he could use this mutated plant to interface with his victim. He could manipulate the world that the Black Mercy trapped them in. Of course, he wanted to choose the captive wisely. Who would have the best emotions to drain?

His eyes stopped on Power Girl. He felt a connection to her that he felt with none of the others, except maybe Animal Man. But her, she wanted to talk to her.

Psycho-Pirate went up to Power Girl and touched the cluster of plants.

"Hello, Power Girl… Let's see what's inside your mind?"

*******

Karen lifted herself from the floor and looked around. It looked like she was still inside the temple, the walls were still made of crumbling stone and smelled like dust and rot. But the strange thing was, she was alone. Just moments ago she was with the others. All she could remember was falling down that hole and then blacking out.

She got to her feet and observed her surroundings. Right now, her top priority was regrouping with the others. Still feeling strangely weak, she staggered down the hallway as her strength slowly returned.

_"Karen, Karen, Karen Starr… Can you tell me who you are?"_ a mocking voice echoed throughout the halls.

"What the…" Power Girl looked around, her hands clenched into fists.

_"Tell me Power Girl, who are you?"_

Karen scowled and levitated off the ground. She flew forward, shooting down the hall like a torpedo towards the source of this voice.

_"Are you an Atlantean? A Kryptonian? Supergirl's clone? An Amazon?"_

She ignored the voice and forced herself to fly faster. "Whatever you're trying to do, it won't work!"

_"I know just who you are… And your name isn't Karen…"_

Power Girl still flew but began noticing something about the stone corridor she was in. It was perfectly straight, she'd been flying fast enough to travel several miles but there hadn't been one turn in the passage. It felt like she was flying down a never-ending passage.

_"You are Kara Zor-L… Survivor of the doomed Earth-Two…"_

Just hearing the name of her old home mention almost made Karen freeze. She hated thinking about Earth-Two, how it was lost to her, how it would never be the same on this new Earth no matter what.

_"Just… Just like me…"_

That comment combined with the strange pained tone made the voice sound even more familiar to Kara. It was right around then that the structure of the passage began to change. The stone became worse in quality and sharp turns were abound. Of course, Power Girl's expert reflexes managed to get her through it just fine.

"Show yourself! Stop hiding!" Karen knew the disembodied voice wouldn't be intimidated, but figured it was worth a shot.

_"Worlds will live… Worlds will die… Worlds will live… Worlds will die…"_

Power Girl flew straight into a wall in a blind rage only to find herself flying down yet another endless hallway on the other side.

"You can't keep this up forever!"

_"One and two and ess and ex and prime and…"_

"Stop it!" Power Girl lost all control. Being taunted over her dead homeworld that she'd tried so desperately to move on from drove her past the breaking point. She ceased flying and destroyed as much of the hall around her as she could. Smashing it with her fists, vaporizing it with her heat vision, anything she could.

She effortlessly dug herself out of the rubble and was greeted by the site of a man in a golden mask standing over her in a large empty room.

"Psycho-Pirate… I should have known…" She looked around, still the same stone structure but at least it wasn't another hallway. "What's your game?"

"I'm hungry."

Power Girl stood up and threw a punch at Psycho-Pirate only for her hand to go through him like a ghost. She stared at the spot where her hand met his chest for a moment, trying to process what had happened.

"Now Kara, I don't want to fight you. You see, the two of us have something in common." Psycho-Pirate walked away from the shocked Kryptonian. "We're both children of dead world's. _Two_ dead world's in your case. Krypton and Earth-Two."

"No more mind games." Karen sped in front of Psycho-Pirate, staring down his masked visage with all her might. "This Earth is where I belong."

"But you miss your old friends, don't you? Your pals from Infinity Inc, your mentors on the Justice Society. Jade, Obsidian, Huntress, Superman..."

"I haven't lost these people, they're all with me now!" Power Girl crossed her arms.

"Are they, Kara? Sure, they have the same names and they've had some of the same adventures." Psycho-Pirate circled around Karen. "But it's not quite what you remember, is it? It's the tiny things that just aren't quite the same. And you remember how things are _supposed_ to be. It's like buying a product that worked so perfectly on TV but in real life is mediocre at best."

"I'm getting bored." Power Girl grabbed Psycho-Pirate by his collar and held him close. "You had better tell me what our point is…"

"What if I could take you back to Earth-Two?" despite the mask covering his face, Karen had a feeling he had some type of self-satisfied smile on underneath.

"That's… That's impossible. There's no Earth-Two around anymore."

"But would you go back, Kara? If that option existed."

Karen paused, giving the idea some serious thought. It wasn't an idea she liked to entertain very much, she knew it would be impossible to get her original life back. But as much there was to like about the new world, there were still things about Earth-Two that would never be the same. Most prominently, her best friend; the Huntress. Sure, she'd gotten along fine with the one on this world but nothing could ever replace bond she had with Helena Wayne.

"I would go back… Maybe not forever, but for a while at least."

"That's just what I wanted to hear."

Psycho-Pirate's body slowly became transparent until nothing at all was left, the Medusa Mask disappearing last. Power Girl was startled by this and looked around for a moment, trying to figure out where he went. It was then that she also realized that the temple around her was disappearing, leaving pitch blackness behind.

"Oh no…" Power Girl lifted up off the ground and tried to fly away from the darkness. But it seemed that the temple disappeared from all sides. In just a few seconds, Power Girl was surrounded by darkness. She shut her eyes but everything looked exactly the same. Right now, for the first time in a while, Karen felt truly powerless. There was absolutely nothing she could think of to get herself out of this place. Wherever that even was.

But after nearly a full minute of being curled up in the dark, Karen felt the temperature change and light hitting her closed eyelids.

Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself in a lightly coloured corridor that for some reason she felt like she recognized. For a moment, Power Girl wondered if she'd gone to heaven but realized that was likely not the case.

She slowly strolled down the hall, after all the strangeness she'd encountered she was just happy to be somewhere pleasant.

But all that relief went away when she approached something that shocked her. A series of photographs on the wall should have been innocuous. After all, the hallway did need some decoration. But what these pictures were enough to make Karen stop in her tracks and her jaw drop open.

The first was a photograph of the Justice Society sitting around a table together. Everyone was there just how she remembered it. Hourman, Dr. Fate, the Spectre, Sandman, even Johnny Thunder was trying to get in the picture. A plaque at the bottom of the frame read "First Meeting of the Justice Society of America, 1940". Below that in slightly smaller text were the words "America's First Heroes".

But the large photograph across from that one made Karen even more surprised. It displayed the members of Infinity Inc. posing in front of a curtain with Sylvester Pemberton, the Star-Spangled Kid, at the centre. Gathered around him were more faces she recognized, Nuklon, Fury, Jade, Obsidian, Huntress, and most noticeable of all, Power Girl saw herself in the picture. The plaque mounted on the frame was engraved with the words "Infinity Incorporated: The Next Generation of Heroes".

"I'm… I'm back… That's impossible…"

Power Girl sped up, running down the hallway past even more photographs of people she used to know. Unlike the last hallway, this one ended up at a large wooden door. She came to a stop in front of it.

She didn't know what to do but psyched herself up for a fight just in case. Carefully, she pushed the door open only for her battle preparations to melt away as soon as she saw what was on the other side.

Karen was faced with a large collection of faces she used to know; members of the old Justice Society, Infinity Inc., All-Star Squadron, the Seven Soldiers, and other heroes she recognized. All her old friends were back. Most prominently she saw her Huntress, Helena Wayne and the Superman with the greying hair she remembered, Kal-L. Karen looked up and saw a banner hanging above their heads with "Welcome Back Kara!" printed on it in big bold letters.

For a moment, Power Girl was stunned by the sight of all these people and deafened by their congratulatory cheers. She approached the gathering of people slowly, feeling tears of joy building up in her eyes as she saw Superman opening his arms to hug her. Karen reciprocated, hugging her long lost cousin back.

"Hey there, long time no see, eh?"

"Yeah, it has been…" Power Girl wrapped her arms around Earth-Two's Superman, squeezing him tight as she can. "I thought you… I thought all of you were gone."

"We never left, kiddo. We've been waiting for you to get back." Kal-L ran his fingers through Karen's hair.

Already, Power Girl had forgotten about the last several hours of her life. The temple, Psycho-Pirate, everything. All that mattered was that she was back at her old home. She broke off her hug with Superman and went over to Huntress next.

"Helena, it's so good to see you… The you I remember the most." Power Girl put a hand on Helena's shoulder.

"I've missed you too, Kara." Helena hugged Karen, pulling her in. "It's good to have you back. We've all been waiting for you."

"I didn't realize how much I wanted to see this place again." Power Girl broke off the hug and looked into Helena's eyes. "I got so used to the new place that I guess I started to forget…"

"Well you won't forget anymore." Kal-L gave Karen a hefty pat on the back.

"Come on Kara, we have a whole celebration planned." Helena took Power Girl by the hand. "We'll meet all your old friends, have adventures, we even got a cake for you."

"That sounds wonderful. Thank you."

*******

The silence still disturbed Psycho-Pirate, he couldn't hear anyone or anything around him. He sat on the floor on a patch free from any of the plants with his legs crossed. His eyes were fixed on the wall where his victims lay in a hallucinatory slumber.

Most of their expressions were either blank or in pain. Feeling their emotions was delicious, he felt himself getting stronger the more he sat there. It wouldn't be too long until he could leave this place at last.

Psycho-Pirate focused on where Power Girl was tied to the wall. She was the only one whose face had a differing expression. For whatever reason, Power Girl had a smile on her face. Of course, it didn't seem like a natural smile. It had a plastic, fake quality to it and her limp neck and her glazed over eyes weren't making it any better.

Still, Psycho-Pirate couldn't help but wonder what she saw. He sent her back to the idyllic, simulated Earth-Two because in a way he missed it. Not that he exactly had a good time there, in fact he was rather unlucky. He spent at least half of his life locked up behind bars and the other half palling around with other supervillains who barely cared about him.

But being able to remember that world was too much for him and like Karen he too wanted it back. He removed the Medusa Mask and stared up at Power Girl's face, stuck in an eerie grin.

"What are you thinking about, Kara?"

*******

It had been a few hours since her return to what Karen believed to be Earth-Two. On the outside it had only been minutes. Of course, Karen believed everything around her to be real. The celebration of her return had been amazing. She'd spent her time eating snacks prepared for her and catching up old friends and mentors of hers.

But eventually, it all began to die down. Most of the older heroes left early and eventually the others trickled out too until it was Power Girl, Huntress, and Superman left at the remains of the party.

"Well, I should have this room cleaned up with my super-speed." Kal-L grinned, looking around the mess left in the aftermath of the celebration. "Nothing to worry about."

"That sure is nice of you." Huntress stretched out in a chair. "It feels like it's getting kind of late. Of course, I don't mind that."

"Yeah, neither do I." Power Girl nodded, in the chair across from Helena. "Anything else you wanna do?"

"I dunno, maybe we could patrol together?" Helena stood up. "We are in Gotham after all, it's a big city with lots of problems."

"I'm down for it. Let's stop some crime and bust some heads." Karen smiled and got up from her chair.

The two heroines started making their way to the exit. On her way out, Karen looked over at her cousin. "Clark, do you wanna come with us?"

"You girls have fun, I'm gonna clean up here and go back to Lois." Kal-L waved goodbye to them as they headed out.

Helena and Karen walked down the hall together, side by side. While making their way to the exit, Helena glanced at Karen.

"So what's my dad like on your new Earth?" Huntress tilted her head at Power Girl.

"Oh, well, he's still got a kid." Power Girl smiled. She'd forgotten so much about Helena that it felt nice to catch up like this. Not you though, a different one. His name's Damian and he's the new Robin."

"Did Dick retire? He never stopped being Robin here. Even after dad put away his cowl."

"Nope, he's still fighting crime. Calls himself Nightwing now. I've met him a couple times."

"Huh… If I can figure out how, I'd love to visit your Earth sometime."

"Yeah, you might like it there…"

"Kara, can you promise me that you'll never leave for so long again? We missed you, all of us… Me especially."

Power Girl placed a hand on Helena's shoulder as they left the Justice Society's headquarters. "I promise… In fact, I don't think I ever want to leave…"

Karen smiled as she lifted up Huntress and flew her up into the sky, ready for their patrol.

On the other side, her near-lifeless body had the same expression as the hooks of the plant giving her this wonderful false-paradise sunk deeper into her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In hindsight, I realize that this chapter was very continuity heavy and relies on you knowing Power Girl's backstory and a bit of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Hopefully, it still made sense to you. These next few chapters will focus on the hallucinations that each character is having.


	3. Metamorphosis & Mortality

The first thing Rex Mason saw when he opened his eyes was the inside of a cave or at least some kind of stone tunnel. He looked around but couldn't see where his fellow heroes had gone. It couldn't have been too far, there weren't many places you could end up after falling down a shaft. Speaking of which, Rex then noticed there wasn't any type of opening above him indicating that he fell.

"What is going on here?"

He got to his feet and looked around, clearly something unusual was afoot. Feeling a little queasy he leaned on the wall for support as he continued forward.

"Ah jeez… Just my luck… There's gotta be a way out."

Metamorpho felt a bit stronger and he kept walking through the cave. He felt it was odd that the architecture didn't resemble the temple he'd been in but pressed forward anyway.

Eventually, the cave walls disappeared into what appeared to be the hallways of a more modern building. This confused Rex even more but he still went on, wanting to get to the bottom of this. He heard machines beeping and the voices of people speaking in hushed tones despite the lack of an obvious source.

"What the hell kinda place is this?" Metamorpho mumbled, speeding up down the hallway. A quick glance behind him showed that there never was a cave there which just served to freak him out even more. "Oh god, I hope I'm not in purgatory…"

The straight hallway turned to a maze of twisting corridors. Eventually, he started passing people in medical scrubs and doctor's coats. All of them seemed to ignore him. This was odd since Metamorpho's strange appearance made him the centre of attention.

"Alright, I'm in a hospital… Is that good or bad?" Metamorpho looked around. He tapped a man in scrubs on the shoulder. This guy seemed to acknowledge him and turn around. "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"

"Oh, Mr. Mason, I've been looking for you. You need to go see your wife." the man said in a solemn tone.

"My wi- What's going on here?"

"Here, right this way." the man in scrubs began to lead Metamorpho down the hall past doctors and rooms with patients in it. "It's a good thing I found you."

"What's going on? Can someone please explain this to me?"

"Here you are sir, I'm so sorry." the man seemed to ignore Rex as he stopped in front of a room at the end of the hall. He opens the door and ushers Metamorpho inside.

Rex doesn't argue and went through the door as it is closed behind him. His eyes immediately go to a hospital bed which had a figure lying in it. From this distance, he couldn't recognize them but it seemed to be an older woman lying there. Whoever she was, she looked familiar.

He approached the hospital bed, the woman in it stirring. She sat up looking over at Rex with a smile on her face.

"Oh, Rex… There you are." her voice was happy but weak.

Once Metamorpho was by her bedside he recognized the woman. It was Sapphire. Even though her hair had turned grey and there were new wrinkles around her eyes he could still recognize her.

"Sapph… Are you- What's going on?" Metamorpho took this elderly version of Sapphire by the hand.

"I'm dying Rexy… You know that there's nothing you can do." Sapphire coughed a little but tried to keep a happy face. "No point in denying it anymore…"

"Oh god… Sapph, please, I don't wanna lose you. This has gotta be a nightmare." Metamorpho rubbed his thumb against the back of Sapphire's thumb.

"We knew it would come to this…" Sapphire moved her hand up to Rex's face, touching her cheek. "Ever since the incident with the Orb of Ra, your body's been different… Daddy's scientists told us you'd probably live forever…"

"No, no, I don't wanna live forever. I wanna live with you, Sapph." Rex felt tears well up in his eyes.

"What we had was good Rexy, but we know it wouldn't go on forever… Still, we had fun… Marriage, kids, and I loved every moment of it…"

"Oh god, Sapph… I love you… C'mon, please don't leave me." Rex's mind raced. He had no idea what he was seeing. Had he been transported through time or was he being given a vision of the future? As ridiculous as it sounded when he thought about it, Rex had to admit that he'd encountered things that were even weirder.

"I love you too Rex… And I'm so glad that we had all those good times together." Sapphire kissed Rex on the cheek and lay back down on the pillow. She closed her eyes and less than a minute later, her heart monitor flatlined.

"Sapphire…" Metamorpho stared at the hospital bed where Sapphire's body lay. If this was a dream this seemed like the part where he would wake up. But nothing happaned. Even if none of it was real, the tears streaming down his face felt true enough.

Suddenly, Rex felt a new presence in the room. He slowly turned himself around and became aware of what that presence was. A man in brightly coloured knight's armour floating midair on a pair of skis was right behind him. He'd heard Mister Miracle and Big Barda talk about this guy, he was the Black Racer. The New God of Death.

"Whuh- What the… What're you doing here."

"I have claimed the soul of Sapphire Mason-Stagg. But I still have much work to do. The duty of the Black Racer is never complete!"

"Hold on! You're Death, right? Can you tell me when it's my time to go." Metamorpho stared up at the Black Racer. "I wanna see Sapph again!"

"It's not my duty to know when. Just to claim them." the Black Racer's face was an impenetrable stoic mask. "But I will say this, shapeshifters like yourself do not die easily. The last one I claimed was a woman named Urania Blackwell and centuries before that I claimed the soul of a metamorphae named Algon."

"Urania? Don't bring her into this… What happened to her- It was a tragedy. " Metamorpho watched as the Black Racer hovered above him ever higher on his skis.

"You, Rex Mason, are fated to walk the Earth longer than almost anyone you encounter or care for."

"That's not fair!" Rex stretched out his arm and grabbed on to the back of the Black Racer's skis. "I… Don't want to be an immortal, alright!"

"There is no such thing as fairness or justice." The Black Race swerved his skis, going through the walls of the hospital like a phantom, taking Metamorpho with him. "I take only the souls that belong to me."

"Please… There's gotta be some way so that I don't have to suffer…" Metamorpho held on to the back of the skis tighter as the Black Racer zipped through the cosmos.

*******

Psycho-Pirate hadn't stopped staring at Power Girl's elastically joyful face. He hadn't experienced true happiness in a long time. At least, her certainly couldn't remember it. Sure, his Medusa Mask had induced feelings of cheerfulness but it wasn't real. He of all people knew what false happiness felt like.

But just as he wondered about that, his gaze was distracted by Metamorpho. His eyes were closed but his face depicted deep inner turmoil and sorrow. Psycho-Pirate took off his mask to get a better look and raised an eyebrow. Despair was a fun emotion to harvest, one of the easiest to manipulate at that.

He stood up from the ground and made his way to the spot where Rex was tied to the wall, making sure to avoid stepping on any Black Mercy plants in the process.

"Alright Mason, what have you got in your head?"

Psycho-Pirate touched the cluster of plants around Metamorpho's chest and tried to connect with him. He'd already been successful with Power Girl, so he was excited to see what other types of mayhem he'd be able to cause.

"Hello, Metamorpho…"

*******

Rex's grip on the skis of the Black Racer had begun to loosen so he turned both his hands into iron and held on as tight he could manage it. He knew tangling with a physical manifestation of death likely was ill-advised. But at this point, he was too upset about the visions he'd seen, real or not, to stop now.

"You're wasting your time, Rex Mason!" the Black Racer declared. "Everything I do is fated to happen! Nothing changes fate!"

"No, you're wrong… That can't be true." Metamorpho pulled himself up, balancing on the left ski. He turned his feet into an adhesive, grabbing the surface.

"You don't know what you're dealing with Rex Mason! The hand of the Black Racer is inevitable! And you will not see me for a long time."

It was then that Metamorpho felt another voice enter his head. _"Let me comfort you, Mason… I always know what to do."_

Rex lost his balance and fill off the skis, even the adhesive didn't keep him on. He hit the ground and rubbed his face in pain as he started to get up. As he stood, Metamorpho realized he was on top of what could only be described as a chessboard floating through space.

"Ah jeez, where am I now."

_"The idea was to take you somewhere neutral."_

Metamorpho watched in shock as Psycho-Pirate materialized out of thin air several metres in front of him.

"Hello there. I thought I'd drop in. You sounded sad and angry."

"I recognize you… You're that guy who messes with people's emotions, right?"

"Good memory, Mason… Yes, I am the Psycho-Pirate. Welcome."

"Just what are you trying to pull here, pal?" Rex turned his hand into a mallet and approached Psycho-Pirate with a scowl on his face.

"Why Rex, what are you talking about?" Psycho-Pirate put up his hands. "I only just got here."

"Yeah right, I know what a mysterious puppetmaster looks like when I see one. You're not as dumb as you look, pal. So what's that big idea?" Rex advanced further on Psycho-Pirate, staring his unmoving golden face down. "Zapping me to the future Ebeneezer Scrooge style and sending death after me..."

"The Black Racer? He isn't Death. He's a representation of Death. Death is a goth girl who listens to _The Cure_ and _Joy Division_."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"That- That doesn't matter." Psycho-Pirate pointed a finger at Rex. "The point is, right now I'm in control of your universe."

"Alright bud, you'd better start talking!" Metamorpho gets closer, raising his hammer-hand higher.

"Wouldn't you like to get rid of that?" Psycho-Pirate pointed to Rex's fist. "To look normal again."

"Of course I would…" Metamorpho nodded and glanced up at his hand. "I've been trying to do it for years but no matter what-"

"Then say no more… I will save you from your fate." Pscyho-Pirate removed his mask and smiled at Rex.

"You're the one who made me see all that crazy stuff with Sapph and the Racer. Why should I trust you?" Metamorpho, now increasingly enraged, was just inches away from Psycho-Pirate.

"Well Mason, you don't have a choice in the matter." Psycho-Pirate's face turned into a grimace as he put the mask back on.

Metamorpho looked down at the floor as it slowly disappeared tile by tile. "Hey! What's going on!"

"Don't worry Rex, you're being sent to a better place." Psycho-Pirate floated in place as the tiles below Rex disappeared, making him fall to the black void beneath him.

Rex shut his eyes as he felt himself fall endlessly. He was overcome by a sudden feeling of hopelessness and let himself keep falling.

Until he felt his back comfortably pressed against a mattress and blankets over him.

"What?" Rex opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar room. Specifically, Sapphire's room in Stagg manor. He then felt someone holding him by his side. Rex looked over and saw Sapphire holding him dressed in her nightgown.

But then he saw something that shocked him to his very core. His arm looked like it belonged to a human, not a mixed-up jumble of elements. He looked under the sheets and saw that he was inside of his human body again.

"Ahh!" Rex shrieked loud enough to wake Sapphire. She clung to him, obviously concerned.

"Rexy? Is everything okay?" Sapphire looked up at Rex with concern in her eyes. "You were screaming."

"I… I was…" Rex tried to remember why he had been so upset but couldn't. It was like there was something blocking him. He remembered nothing now, the Orb of Ra, being a superhero, the adventures, the League, Psycho-Pirate; all of it was gone. Just as fast, new memories about a false life flooded his brain. "Must've been a bad dream, Sapph. Sorry for waking you."

"It's alright Rex, we've been sleeping in for a while. Let's get dressed." Sapphire sat up in bed, stretching out. "Come on, let's go see daddy."

"Oh brother, I wonder what Staggsy's up to now…"

"What are you talking about, Rexy? Daddy loves you."

"He does? Oh… Oh yeah, he does."

Psycho-Pirate disconnected from the plant, wiping his slimy hand off on his chest. There was something so disgusting about having to touch that plant, but it had to be done. Sighing in disgust, he backed off and went to his patch of stone on the floor where he sat down.

He removed his mask again and stared down at the golden face he'd been wearing. Psycho-Pirate scrunched up his face and then looked back to his victims. Power Girl still seemed to be happy which made him smile, positive emotions were much more pleasant to drain. Although, negative ones had their benefits.

Next, he glanced back to Metamorpho and saw that the Element Man had a similar blissful look plastered across his face. It almost made Psycho-Pirate feel good, or would have if his neck wasn't uselessly hanging to the side like it had been broken.

He sighed, feeling content with himself. After what he'd done with Rex and Karen, he was already coming up with a pattern in his head. Let the plant make them suffer, redirect the plant to give them what they want the most, benefit in the emotions.

It was a good plan, he told himself. Like making a recipe. Let them marinade in the negativity and fry them with a sugary helping of positive emotions. Repeat until satisfied. The result, a spectacular feast of emotions for the Psycho-Pirate.

He chuckled to himself, eyes fixed on the heroes he had under his control. His eyes stuck on Metamorpho, wondering what exactly he was picturing.

*******

Rex found a casual shirt and black jacket in his dresser and put it on while Sapphire put on an equally casual white dress. The two of them left the bedroom together. As he dressed, Rex couldn't stop being vaguely amazed at his human body. Although, he wasn't even sure why he was impressed by it. He'd seen it every day of his life, at least that's what his memory was telling him.

He made it out of the bedroom and followed Sapphire through the halls of Stagg manor, eventually coming to the stairs going down to the main hall of the mansion. Rex looked at the front doors of the house and saw them opening.

Coming through the doors was Simon Stagg dressed up in golf gear, but oddly he seemed less flabby and out of breath than Rex had remembered. Not to mention he was doing something that seemed unusual for him, he was laughing and smiling. Coming in right behind him was the hulking caveman Java, carrying his golf clubs.

"Ah, good game out there, eh Jave?" Simon chuckled. Noticing Rex and Sapphire. "Oh, Rex m'boy, so good to see you! Glad you and Sapphire finally woke up."

"Sorry daddy, we were real tired after staying up at the viewing party last night."

"Viewing party…" Rex mumbled.

"Don't tell me you forgot, Rex." Simon laughed heartily. "Treasure Quest's season premier was yesterday! With stellar ratings might I add."

"Oh, my show." Rex's face lit up.

"Keep this up and you'll be hosting that show 'til you're as old and grey as I am." Simon chuckled and began to walk up the stairs. "I've got to go out in a moment, but say hi to the kids when they get home from school."

"Kids?" Rex's voice took an even quieter tone as he muttered.

"You should make more time in your schedule, daddy." Sapphire looked up the stairs at her father. "Little Bobby and Ramona just love their granddad."

"I'll try, Sapphire. I'll try." Simon disappeared up the stairs.

"Come on Rex, let's go relax in the living room." Sapphire took Rex by the hand and led him. She turned around to address Java. "Could you get us a late breakfast, Java?"

"Of course." Java nodded and walked away to put Simon's golf clubs away. "I will have it soon."

"C'mon Rex, let's see what's on TV. I hear that new woman on the Justice League daddy's sponsoring, Element Girl, they're giving her some kind of medal. Let's see if we can catch her on the news." Sapphire had Rex by the wrist and led him around.

The part of Rex's brain that could still remember the old world struggled against the rest in a futile battle. He had everything he ever wanted. He was a human, he still had his reality show, Sapphire was his wife, they had kids, Simon went from a curmudgeon to a jolly old man, Java seemed less abrasive, and even Urania went from a depressed mess to a real hero. It was a better world than the one Rex used to inhabit and one he never wished to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a lot of inspiration from the Sandman story featuring Element Girl and the miniseries Metamorpho: Year One. Fun fact, the names of Rex's children in his fantasy (Bob and Ramona) are a reference to the original creators of Metamorpho; writer Bob Haney and artist Ramona Fradon. We'll get back to Rex's fantasy later once we see inside the heads of all the others. The next chapter will be about Black Canary.


	4. Mother Bird

When Dinah came to, her throat was dry and she had a pulsing headache. But at least she was alive. Granted, she still felt half-dead but that still beat being actually dead. The blurry shapes in front of Dinah's eyes slowly formed into an actual view of her surroundings. It was the middle of the night, at least that's what the sky of stars above her seemed to indicate. The next thing she realized was that she was on top of a roof somewhere urban.

She tried to remember how she got there but for some reason the last thing she could recall was getting into bed with Oliver. After that, her mind went black. Dinah slowly picked herself off the ground as her senses came back to her.

"Alright, where the hell am I?" Dinah sighed and dusted herself off. She had little time to think about this when there was a flash of light around her and smoke surrounding her. "Oh now what…"

_"Dinah Lance! I'm so glad I found you."_ a voice came from the smoke. The way it spoke made her imagine game show hosts and commercial announcers.

Dinah snarled in annoyance, preparing herself for a fight. Out from the smoke emerged a bearded man in a suit and cloak. He was Abra Kadabra, an enemy of the Flash.

"Oh, it's the Wizard of Oz." Dinah smirked.

"Silence, Lance!" Abra Kadabra scowled. "Your reckoning is upon you."

"What do you want with me?"

"Oh, you'll see soon enough."

Abra Kadabra floated up in the air and turned away, dramatically swishing his cape behind him. Really, Dinah didn't feel like chasing this guy. But clearly, this magician was up to something and she wanted to get to the bottom of this.

So, Dinah took a deep breath and ran across the rooftop after him. She quickly realized that she was in Star City. This was good since that told her she was still at home but that still didn't explain what Abra Kadabra was doing here or why she woke up on a roof after going to bed with Oliver.

While she chased him, she tried to remember all she knew about Abra Kadabra. She vaguely recalled the Flash telling her that he didn't have actual magic powers. That it was just highly advanced science from the future that made the things he did seem like magic. She didn't know if that made him easier or harder to fight.

Dinah hurried after him, desperate to see what exactly was going on. She felt like there was the chance that this could be some type of trap for her. But nevertheless she went along with it. Frankly, she'd been up against tougher opponents than Abra Kadabra so she wasn't very scared. Even if he tried something, she knew it couldn't be too bad. What's the worst he could do? Pull a killer rabbit out of his hat?

After a short chase, Abra Kadabra ducked into the most predictable of all locations; an abandoned theatre. Dinah went after him, running in through the theatre's front doors.

"Alright Presto, show's over!" Dinah smirked, she felt a little proud of her silly quip. When she got inside of the theatre and saw no sign of Abra Kadabra anywhere. A spotlight was pointed at a curtain on a stage at the centre of the theatre.

"Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Abra Kadabra!"

"Hmm, certainly isn't subtle…" Dinah prepared for a fight as she got closer to the stage as the curtains opened. "Are the Flash's guys like this?"

The curtains opened up all the way and Dinah was greeted by Abra Kadabra taking a bow. Behind him were two large objects with smaller curtains in front of them.

"Hmm, big on the curtains aren't you?" Dinah snarked. "What's the big surprise."

"Don't you dare mock me." Abra Kadabra crossed his arms. "Here's what behind curtain number one!"

Dinah began climbing up on to the stage as Abra Kadabra flourished his hands. The curtains covering the object to his left fell to the side. Black Canary paused when she saw what was under it. She saw a long box on its side on top of a table with what she recognized as Barbara's head and legs sticking out from the top and bottom. Levitating above the box was a saw. The sight could have been comical, but it just made Dinah mad.

"Oracle?!" Dinah exclaimed.

"Dinah? Thank god you're here…" Barbara nervously eyed the saw above her.

"The old saw-a-lady-in-half-trick." Abra Kadabra smirked, holding an arm out toward Barbara. "Only no smoke and mirrors this time! And your dear friend Oracle has decided to join us as an unwilling volunteer from the audience."

"I'm coming Barbara!" Dinah hurried toward where Barbara was being held.

"Now not so fast. I still have another surprise!" Abra Kadabra waved his arm toward the other object. The curtain was pulled to the side to reveal another long box, this time stood up vertically. This time Dinah saw Oliver's head sticking out of the top of the box.

"Uh, hey there Dinah. A little help?" Oliver turned his head toward her.

Abra Kadabra waved his hand again and several swords floated down from above. It was then that Dinah realized there were small holes in the box big enough to stick a blade into.

"Here's how it works Dinah. Save one, the other dies." Abra Kadabra smirked. "Who will it be? Your truest friend or your love?"

Dinah's eyes darted back and forth between Barbara and Oliver. Their faces, the blades, Abra's smug little face. She tried coming up with a plan but as she watched the blades approaching the boxes she lost control. Dinah opened her mouth and let loose with her sonic shriek as loud as she could.

Abra Kadabra covered his ears and dropped to his knees, groaning. The sound hurt Oliver and Barbara as well, but their current state prevented them from covering her ears. But Dinah was too enraged to care. She roundhouse kicked Abra Kadabra in the jaw, knocking a few of his teeth loose. Blinded by anger Dinah pounces onto him, clawing at his face with her open palm and pinning him to the ground. She doesn't know what's making her so furious, it's like something's inside of her guiding her actions.

*******

The silence had become much more manageable now. Psycho-Pirate imagined himself having cordial conversations with the six immobile bodies on the wall. He felt all their emotions swirling around him like a flurry of snow. The positives and negatives beautifully mixing together just for him.

They were his personal playthings and nothing was going to interrupt him. He found them to be good conversations. After all, they couldn't talk back to him. But Psycho-Pirate became distracted when he saw movement in his captives.

Black Canary stirred, squirming against the plant wrapped around her. Psycho-Pirate noticed this and scowled. Nobody was supposed to be able to escape him. Seeing someone move around in a place where they shouldn't be able to escape unnerved him.

In fact, when her thrashing about caused her to tear some of the vines away and make her fall from the wall it worried him even more. Moving quickly, Psycho-Pirate raced forward and attempted to catch Dinah. Unfortunately, he wasn't coordinated enough and she just landed on top of him.

Psycho-Pirate quickly worked his way out from under her and lay her out on the floor. She was moving less now, but still squirming a bit.

"No, no… This will never do."

He grabbed on to the plant and pushed it into her. He'd decided that he'd need to have a conversation with her very personally.

*******

By now, Dinah's hands were wrapped around Abra Kadabra's scrawny neck. She'd never hated someone so much in her life. She didn't even know why she felt so much hatred. For a couple moments, her vision flickered. Like a TV with a bad signal pausing and catching up with the program. For several seconds she saw herself inside a temple instead of a theatre and saw Abra Kadabra as a mass of plants instead of a man.

But she was too rage filled to care or to stop. All she knew was that she wanted to see this man dead.

But then she became distracted from Abra Kadabra's impending demis when she felt a gloved hand touch her shoulder. Dinah looked behind her and saw the frozen gold face belonging to Psycho-Pirate.

"Dinah, you need to calm down…" Psycho-Pirate took off his mask and smiled at her. "I'm calm, see? Don't you feel calm?"

"Yes… I'm… I'm calm…" Dinah stared back down at Abra Kadabra. "What's happening?"

"That's not important now." Psycho-Pirate directed Dinah to stand up and she did. She walked toward the front of the stage and beckoned Black Canary after him. "Here, come with me."

"Is he working with you?" Dinah pointed at Abra Kadabra.

"No… Well, yes. In a way. It's hard to explain." Psycho-Pirate shrugged. "My name is Psycho-Pirate Do you know me? I can never remember all the little details."

"We might have met…" Dinah nodded. "I've heard of you."

"Hmm, yes, I'm sure you have." Psycho-Pirate turned around. "Look there, Dinah Lance tell me what you see."

Dinah turned around and saw that the scene hadn't changed. Barbara and Oliver were still trapped and Abra Kadabra lay on the floor. But then, she realized all of them were frozen. Like God had taken out a remote and pressed the pause button.

"What's going on here?" Dinah stared fixated at the scene.

"Don't worry about it, they're safe now." Psycho-Pirate kept his voice steady, hiding his own emotions. "But… Dinah, he asked an interesting question, didn't he?"

"What do you mean?"

"Given the choice, who would you pick? Which one would you save?"

"I choose both."

"That isn't the question." Psycho-Pirate wagged his finger in front of her face.

"How can you ask me something like that?" Dinah glared into Psycho-Pirate's eyes. "I love these people. There's always more than one choice. No matter what, I'd find a way to save both of them. It's not fair to ask me to let one of them die."

"Fair? Fair! Nothing in life is fair!" Psycho-Pirate snarled and put his mask back on. "I never asked for this mask, for these powers… I would have been happy living out the rest of my life as a nobody. But that stupid cellmate of mine, he had to tell me where to find that mask of his. That isn't fair. Everything turns out perfectly for you heroes."

"That isn't true." Dinah crossed her arms. "I've had to go through a lot of things. So have plenty of people that I know. I don't know if you've noticed, but Oracle over there can't use her legs. And Ollie, his life isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Him and Arsenal don't exactly get along anymore."

"Hmm, perhaps everyone has hardships. Hardships, turmoil, regrets…" Psycho-Pirate paused and sighed. "What do you regret the most, Dinah? Surely there's something."

"Of course I have regrets. Who doesn't?"  
"And what's your biggest regret?"

"Well, not to get too Freudian on you, but I wish I spent more time with my mom before she died."

"You do, eh? Happy home life as a kid? Wish you could relive that?"

"I, uh, I dunno… I just don't think I spent much time with her."

"I see, well, thank you. Have a lovely day."

Psycho-Pirate turned around, bowed, and hopped off the stage, making his way to the exit of the theatre.

"Hey, where are you going?" Black Canary turned around and watched Psycho-Pirate as he left. He didn't reply and just kept walking. Dinah took matters into her own hands and jumped off of the stage, hurrying after him. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

The lights above Dinah flickered as she ran toward Psycho-Pirate. For several moments, Psycho-Pirate flickered as well. It was like he blinked in and out of existence. No matter how fast she ran and how slow Psycho-Pirate seemed to be going, she couldn't quite keep up.

Psycho-Pirate exited through the doors which just made Dinah charge ahead faster. When Dinah reached the doors she slammed into them shoulder first.

"Grah!"

The doors gave way and the sight on the other side left Dinah dumbfounded. The dark streets of Star City were replaced by an idyllic suburb with a shining sun in the sky, children playing in the streets, and the faint scent of apple pie in the air.

Dinah looked back at the theatre. It's urban architecture stuck out among the tiny boxlike houses of the suburbs and yet none of the people walking down the street or mowing their lawn paid it any mind.

"What is this place…"

She walked forward, crossing the street. The architecture reminded her of the 1950s. At least, the idealized version of the '50s she remembered from movies and TV. A quick glance over her shoulder told her that the theatre she left had mysteriously vanished, only serving to confuse Dinah further.

Her eyes focused on the mailbox in front of the house directly ahead of her. The names "Lance-Queen" was on the box. Her and Oliver's surnames. Something about it unsettled Dinah. But at the same time, she felt herself drawn to the house.

Dinah walked up the pathway to the front of the house, her eyes fixed to the door. She didn't say a word and her arms and legs were rigid. It almost made her feel like she was in a trance, not in control of her own actions.

Before she could question anything further, the door to the house slowly swung open to reveal a very casually dressed Oliver Queen standing on the other side. He wore a bright blue polo shirt and khaki pants and was politely waving at Dinah.

"Dinah! There you are." Oliver beckoned her to get closer. "We were waiting for you to come home."

"You were waiting? And who's this we?" Dinah got up to the door, still utterly confused.

Dinah got no response as Oliver ushered her into the house. She didn't argue, new information was put in front of her faster than she could process it.

Oliver just smiled and nodded like he'd answered the question as Dinah was led from the foyer and into the living room. "Good news Barbara, your friend's back!"

"Barbara?"

Dinah entered the living room, decorated with cozy colours and slightly rustic furniture. And sitting next to the couch was Barbara, dressed in a similarly casual way with a button-up shirt and black skirt on.

"Hey there Dinah, thought I'd drop in today." Barbara moved her wheelchair over to Dinah and reached out a hand.

"I'm, uh, I'm glad to see you Babs…" Dinah shook her hand. She looked back and forth between Barbara and Oliver. "I'm glad to see you guys but, um, weren't you two just trapped?"

"Trapped? Dinah, are you okay?" Oliver asked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Um, neither do I…" Dinah tried to remember but the last few hours came up blank for her. "It's nice to have you at our house, Barbara."

Dinah paused. She could never remember living at a house like this and yet it felt like her and Oliver owned the place.

"Thanks, Ollie here invited me over for lunch." Barbara said.

"C'mon Dinah, let's sit down." Oliver motioned for Dinah to sit on the couch. She nodded and took a seat and Oliver soon followed her. "Y'know, someone else came over today."

"What? Who?" Dinah looked over at Oliver.

"Well, she's in the kitchen getting us some coffee." Oliver replied. "Oh, here she comes now."

Dinah looked ahead at a door opening up in front of her. She had a feeling of what it would be. And that feeling of hers ended up being proved right.

Through the door stepped Dinah Drake, the original Black Canary, Dinah's mother. It had been a long time since Dinah saw her mother but she didn't remember her looking exactly like this. At least in person.

Dinah Sr. looked how she did when she was in her prime, wearing her Black Canary costume, really just the one Dinah wears now with a domino mask, and with a big smile on her face. Dinah only ever saw her mom like this in old photographs.

"Hey there kiddo, it's been a while." Dinah's mom placed a tray with several cups of coffee on it down on the table.

"Mom, you… You look so…"

"Young?" Dinah senior chuckled. "I know. C'mon junior, let's hug it out. I've missed you."

"Me too…" Dinah nodded and stood up from the couch to hug her mother. She embraced the woman she hadn't seen in years. "I wish we spent more time together, mom."

"And I wish I didn't wait so long to have kids. This superhero racket, it takes up so much time…" Dinah's mother embraced her daughter right back. "But we have all the time in the world now."

"Good… We have a lot of catching up to do." Dinah smiled.

"Well, your friends here have already told me a lot." her mother smiled back. "But I can't wait to hear more."

*******

The stone floor wasn't that uncomfortable but Psycho-Pirate knew that he had to get up. He rose from the ground, pushing Dinah's unconscious body off of him. Already he felt all the happiness radiating from his body.

As he propped her against the wall, he considered the fact that he could leave now. He'd absorbed enough emotions to be at his full power. But the more he ate the hungrier he got. It was a never-ending cycle, he just wanted more and more.

And after having trapped three of his victims in the fantasyland of their dreams, he wanted to do it to the other half. After all, if his life couldn't be happy, the least he could do was bring it to others.

Of course, that wasn't true and he knew it. He just wanted to get stronger even when he was already at his strongest. Psycho-Pirate stepped off and removed the Medusa Mask, looking over the remaining three heroes he had yet to manipulate.

"Hmm… Who's next?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was as I wrote this chapter that I realized that I have read a lot of comics that feature Black Canary as a supporting character but not many that go into her backstory or motivations. But despite that, she's still a character I really like. So, in other words, TVTropes and the DC wiki were my friends for this chapter. I think I did a good job with it. Like with the others, we'll see more of Dinah's fantasy world later on. Next up, I have Animal Man planned to be featured in the next chapter.


	5. Zoology

The thing that woke Animal Man up was the horrible hot wetness around him. It was like he'd been trapped in the world's least relaxing sauna. The fact that he was wearing spandex did not make things more comfortable. All it did was trap the heat inside him.

"Oh god… What's going on?" Animal Man looked around and realized that his goggles had fogged up, rendering the world around him behind a glaze of moisture. He pulled up the goggles and got a good look around.

He realized that his body was lying on the grass somewhere. A quick glance from side to side told him he was in a residential area. Albeit, somewhere that looked like it had been long abandoned.

"Alright Buddy, get a hold of yourself…" Buddy whispered and hopped to his feet. "Figure out how you got here and how to get out."

He stumbled ahead, out of what looked like someone's front yard and onto the street. It was like nobody had lived here in years. Nature had reclaimed the neighborhood. Grass grew tall and houses were crumbling around him. Buddy had no idea where he could be. He'd never seen such a large expanse of seemingly modern buildings abandoned.

When he reached the street corner he glanced up at a street sign with a vine coiling around it. It was then that he recognized the name of the street as one just a few blocks away from his own house. That meant he was still in San Diego and more importantly that meant he was close to home.

"Alright, now I'm worried." Animal Man put on his serious face as he looked away from the sign. "Either something terrible happened here or someone's messing with me. Can't risk it, I need to go find Ellen and the kids."

Reaching into the life web, Buddy pulled out the speed of a cheetah and just run. He didn't use the full speed, but just enough to move quickly through the neighborhood. He made a few quick turns, getting ever closer to his house.

But before he could reach his destination, he was interrupted. A rhinoceros charged into his path, blocking Buddy's way forward. He stopped in his tracks, stumbling a bit, and just looked at the creature.

"What the…"

The rhinoceros snarled at Buddy and looked directly at him, it looked like it was getting ready to charge at him.

"Uh, easy there…" Buddy held his hands out, urging the rhino to stop. As much as he loved animals, Buddy had little experience stopping a charging rhinoceros. So when he saw it beginning to run at him he pulled the acrobatic powers of a lemur from the Life Web and used it to get out of the way, leaping over the charging animal.

Needless to say, Buddy was freaked out by this development. He ignored the rhino and continued to run through the streets. It was as he did this he saw much more out of place wildlife.

He passed a lion in someone's front yard, a bear rooting through a garbage can, even an elephant walking through the street. Buddy had never seen chaos like this before, at least in his own city.

After going to the full speed his body would allow, Buddy made it to his house in a matter of seconds. He caught his breath before going up to the door and pushing it open.

"Ellen, kids! I'm back!" Animal Man yelled. "What happened here?"

There was no answer. This fact worried Buddy. Moving quickly but still keeping his head clear, Animal Man hurried through the foyer and into the living room. Still, it was abandoned. Next, he went to the kitchen where he encountered some signs of non animal life.

A duo of lemon yellow skinned humanoid aliens with elongated bald heads. But these weren't just any aliens, they were the reason Buddy had his powers in the first place.

"You!" Buddy pointed a finger at the aliens. "What are you guys doing here? Are you messing with the fabric of reality again?"

"Of course not." the first alien said.

"Well, maybe a little." the second replied. "Sit down, we have coffee."

Buddy passively nodded and sat down at the dining table as the alien pushed over a cup of coffee.

"What's going on here?" Buddy accepted the coffee and sipped on it. "Did you do all that stuff outside?"

"Yes." the first alien calmly nodded. "We felt a little bad about what we put you through."

"So we decided to alter the world to give you what you want." the second alien went on. "A world where the animals rule."

"Wha- When did I ever say I wanted this!" Buddy yelled.

"You care about the animals, don't you? You hate seeing what humans do to them."

"Yeah but humans have a place on earth too! I didn't want the world to turn into the planet of the apes."

"Well, you should have been more clear on what you wanted."

"Clear? I never asked for this in the first place!"

"Oh…" the alien paused. "Hmm, that's a problem isn't it."

*******

Psycho-Pirate had left his wall of heroes for a few moments. After the rather intense experience of Black Canary's near escape, he thought some time to himself would be good. Of course, he quickly came to realize that he actually hated the sound of his own thoughts.

So after a couple minutes of screaming at no one in particular and pacing around, Psycho-Pirate rushed back to where he had all the heroes trapped. He gravitated to Power Girl again, he wanted to be back on Earth-Two. Back in simpler times.

But then he went to Animal Man again. He'd encountered him once before. Although for some reason he couldn't quite recall the details. Something about Arkham Asylum, he knew that much. But after that, everything went cloudy. Like something wanted him not to remember.

Even so, Animal Man felt personal to him. So Psycho-Pirate adjusted his mask and fixed the wrinkles on his outfit as he got closer to him.

"Buddy Baker, Animal Man… Yes… I know you. I think I like you, Animal Man."

With his arm outstretched and hands trembling Psycho-Pirate walked forward until he was touching the plants wrapped around Buddy Baker's body.

"That's it… Let me in…"

*******

Buddy Baker felt like he was just about to throw his cup of coffee at the two aliens in front of him when he felt a strange sensation in his body. It was like someone took his brain and squeezed it like an orange being juiced.

"Ah! What the hell!" Buddy dropped to his knees, the coffee mug shattering at his feet.

"Oh dear, what is it now?" one of the aliens asked in the same tone one would use to address an annoying friend.

"I don't know, it feels like something grabbed on to me but I can't see it… Can't you guys turn invisible…" Buddy felt the feeling gradually subsided but it was still there, nagging at him.

_"Animal Man, so pleased to see you again."_

"Oh god, not another one." Buddy heard the voice behind him and for some reason it felt like it belonged to someone he knew. He dreaded turning around to see who it was. And yet, he did it anyway where he was confronted by none other than Psycho-Pirate. "You! I know you! How do I know you?"

"That's right Buddy, I know you too.." Psycho-Pirate held his arms wide open as he approached Buddy. "I'm Psycho-Pirate, you remember me?"

"Yeah… But I don't remember from where." Animal Man nodded. "You told me something before… You told me that everything I know is a lie… Or something like that. What did that mean?"

"Animal Man, don't listen to him." one of the aliens stood up from the table.

"Shut up. I'm in control right now." Psycho-Pirate waved a hand at the aliens, causing them to abruptly disappear in a flash of light.

"What the- What was that!"

"Nightmares are boring. Utopia, paradise, dreams… That's where it's at."

Animal Man went right up to Psycho-Pirate and grabbed him by the collar of his cloak. "You'd better explain what you'd going on."

"You care about the animals, don't you?"

"Of course I do. But not like this!" Animal Man gestured to the plants growing in what used to be his dining room.

"It's a noble cause, Baker… Perhaps I can make things better?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Buddy threw his hands up in the air. "Nothing that's happened to me all day has made sense! I can't remember anything past… I can't remember what the last thing I remember is!"

"Calm now, Buddy… You need to feel calm." Psycho-Pirate and pushed his index finger into Buddy's forehead.

Instantly Buddy's vision went blank. He let out a scream as he felt his body go limp and fall backwards onto the floor. The next thing he heard was the voice of Psycho-Pirate softly whispering to him.

_"You're a good man, Buddy. You should spend more time with your family."_

Buddy heard his own scream go silent but still tried to anyway, it was like his mouth could no longer make sound. He was shocked further when he felt his body crash into a soft surface rather than the hard floor he'd been expected. His eyes shot open and found himself surprised to see that he was face down on his bed.

"This day just keeps getting weirder." Buddy looked around and saw that he appeared to be alone in his bedroom.

Slowly, he rose from bed and hobbled over to the dresser, feeling strangely drained again. He changed into some clothes and left the house. Already, he smelled breakfast cooking downstairs which he took as a good sign.

"Ellen! Kids! Are you home?" Buddy hurried down the stairs, desperate to see them. Only slightly out of breath, he made it into the kitchen to see Ellen, Cliff, and Maxine all gathered around a table each with a plate of waffles and bacon in front of them.

"Glad you finally got up, Buddy." Ellen looked over and smiled. "What's got you so worked up."

"I… Uh, I… I don't know. Must have been a bad dream I was having." Buddy chuckled, any memories of the Psycho-Pirate or temple now being forgotten.

"Mom already made a plate for you, dad." Cliff told him.

"Oh, how thoughtful." Buddy went over to his spot at the table and sat down. He immediately noticed the inclusion of bacon on his plate. "Uh, Ellen, I don't eat meat. Remember?"

"I found this recipe for rice paper bacon online and made some for all of us, it's delicious." Ellen happily nodded.

"Yeah, it's super tasty." Maxine poured maple syrup onto her waffles while.

"Don't go too heavy on the syrup." Buddy chuckled as he got comfortable on the chair.

"Okay daddy, I won't." Maxine nodded and stopped pouring it.

"So dad, you said something about a nightmare you had?" Cliff mumbled through a mouthful of breakfast. "What was that about?"

"You know… I can't quite remember. Whatever it was, it really got to me." Buddy shrugged. "What's important is that I'm awake and everything is back to normal."

*******

On the outside, in the bleak real world that was the temple, Psycho-Pirate was seething with rage. He didn't know how much of it was emotions seeping out of his mask and how much was just him being upset.

Letting out an anguished cry of pain he pulled off his mask and chucked it to the ground. It clanked against the stone floor. He screamed some more and kicked the mask.

"It's not fair! None of it's fair!"

He stared at the heroes that the plants kept strapped to the wall, getting closer to them. His focus honed in on Power Girl.

"What's it like? Is Earth-Two nice? I miss it there. Everything used to be so simple… But now- Now it's all confusing!" He grabbed Karen by her shoulders and stared into her dead-eyed face. After staring into those cold unfeeling eyes of hers he let go. "Oh god… I'm so sorry, Kara… I do believe I've lost my mind."

Psycho-Pirate pat the unconscious Kryptonian on the head and backed away. "I need to clear my head for a moment. I'll be right back. You can tell me about what you and Huntress get into later." He continuing to back off and glanced over the bodies of Bid Barda and Captain Marvel. "Oh, and don't worry, I'll be back for you two…"

*******

With his breakfast out of the way and the information that it was a Saturday in his head, Buddy had already started thinking of ways to spend time with his kids. While Cliff went upstairs to play some video games and Buddy soon found Maxine begging him to watch cartoons with her.

He, of course, happily agreed and soon enough Maxine had dragged him over to the living room where they both sat down on the couch.

"Nothing beats Saturday morning cartoons, eh Maxine?" Buddy smiled as he sat down with his daughter next to her.

"Yeah, they're really funny." Maxine nodded and picked up the remote. She smiled and turned on the TV.

Buddy was relaxed, he felt at ease with himself. But as Maxine flipped through the channels to find her program she went past something that startled Buddy. A newscaster was talking, Maxine went past it too fast for him to hear anything. But he saw a header with the caption "Carbon Emissions Reduced" he wasn't able to read the rest in time but it excited him enough to interrupt his own daughter.

"Maxine, hold on! Go back a few channels." Buddy leaned forward on the couch.

"Huh, okay. Why?" Maxine started going backwards through the channels.

"Here it is, stop."

Buddy watched and read the full header, "Carbon Emissions Reduced to 0%". His mouth opened up in surprise as he read this. He became even more shocked as he heard what exactly the newscaster had to say next.

_"... United States has joined Canada, Japan, and the European Union in having zero percent carbon emissions, relying on only on alternative fuels. This truly is a monumental day in our history."_

Buddy stared at the screen, still a little dumbfounded. He tried to remember hearing news about this before, you'd think he'd have heard more developments. But as soon as he questioned this, the Black Mercy filled the gaps in his brain with false memories. In this world, research into eliminating fossil fuels had been on the up and up.

_"We now go live to top environmental scientist Alec Holland with more information on what this means for you."_

"I'm bored. Can we watch cartoons?"

"Of course we can, Maxine." Buddy nodded.

"Thanks Daddy." Maxine smiled and went back to looking for her cartoon.

Buddy too similar and relaxed on the couch. Right now, he had everything he could ever need right where he did. A family who loved him, a house in the suburbs, and it even sounded like the planet was becoming a better place for animals all over the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter was a bit weaker than the rest, but whatever. I'm probably just being hard on myself. Just to let you know, the next few chapters might take a bit longer than usual to come out. This is because I'm participating in NaNoWiMo this year and will be putting a lot of effort into that. But regardless of when it's out, the next chapter will be about Big Barda.


	6. An Apokolips Story

As one of the New Gods, it took a lot to kill a woman like Big Barda. But that didn't she couldn't be hurt. So as she woke up, Barda took note of the horrible pounding her head that was seemingly in time with her heart.

"By the Highfather… Where am I?"

Clenching the Mega-Rod in hand, Barda stood up and looked around. It seemed like she was still inside the same temple she had entered. The only thing that unsettled her was the fact that none of the other people that had entered the temple with her were around her. This was odd since realistically they should have ended up in the same spot. And even if the others had already come to it stood to reason that they would have woken her.

Even with these thoughts in mind, Barda pressed onward through the tunnels. As she walked ahead, the quality of the passageway in front of her began to deteriorate. Bricks were cracked and crumbled, some were gone completely, and moss began to grow everywhere.

She turned a corner in the tunnel and it was then that she heard a noise that sounded vaguely human. Almost like someone was screaming. Whatever it was it made Barda move faster and hold on to her weapon tighter. As she went along further into the tunnel until the noise got louder. It was definitely someone screaming, likely someone in great pain. This knowledge made Barda break out into a full-on run.

"Hold on! I'm coming!"

She ceased running when she saw a dark figure ahead of her, she couldn't make out who it was exactly or whether they were friend or foe. She held up her Mega-Rod, pointing it at the figure.

"You there! Are you the one who was screaming?"

_"Barda! Oh thank god!"_ the figure shouted back in a voice Big Barda immediately recognized.

"Scott…" Barda's jaw dropped as she lowered the Mega-Rod.

The figure came into the light and there was Mister Miracle, Scott Free, stumbling out of the darkness in his signature red and yellow costume. Only now it was ripped and tattered and he walked with a limp.

"Oh Barda, I'm so glad I found you…" Scott panted, clearly out of breath. "They found me…"

Barda gasped and grabbed on to her husband. "Scott, Scott, it's going to be okay. Tell me what happened? Who found you?"

It was then that Barda realized where she was exactly. Somehow the architecture of the temple had disappeared and she found herself in much more familiar surroundings. She was standing in the corridors of Granny Goodness's orphanage.

"Wait, how did we get here?" Barda glanced around.

"Barda we- We need to get out of here… Please…" Scott gasped.

"It's okay Scott, I'll get us back home."

_"Going somewhere, Barda? Granny will be very displeased with you."_

"No…" Barda turned around, still holding on to Scott as tight as she could. "Please, not now.."

Her worst fears were confirmed when she found herself facing the Female Furies; Stompa, Lashina, and Mad Harriet.

"You should have never left us, Barda. Do you know how upset Granny has been without you?" Lashina asked.

"I left Apokolips for a reason, you shall not enslave my will again. Scott and I, we are free people." Barda scowled at Lashina, holding her husband tighter as she got closer to the Furies.

"What're we waiting for? Let's kill her now!" Stompa yelled.

"I wanna cut her into tiny pieces!" Mad Harriet cackled.

"Now, now, be patient… Granny wants to give Barda a stern, well deserved talking to." Lashina smirked at the two of them. "Do you want to surrender or do we have to take you in?"

"Scotty boy fought back and, well, you can see what happened to him." Stompa crossed her arms menacingly.

Barda gently rested Scott's mostly unconscious body against the wall before taking out her Mega-Rod and pointing it at the Furies. "I'll- I'll kill you if I have to!"

"Oh, that's cute. She thinks she can fight us. Girls, show her who's boss."

"For Granny!" Mad Harriet laughed and charged ahead at Barda. Lashina and Stompa followed her example and hurried at Barda.

She pointed the Mega-Rod ahead like she'd done many times before but nothing happened. It was like something had broken it. "That's not supposed to happen…" An overwhelming sense of dread and gloom came over her. Time slowed down as the three Female Furies approached her.

A tiny voice in the back of her head told her that she deserved what was about to happen. That the ideas of optimism, goodness, and hope were lies. And that all she needed right now was to see Granny Goodness again.

She welcomed the pain being inflicted upon her. Lashina's whips, Harriet's claws, Stompa's blunt fists, all of it was going to be fixed. Her and Scott would be happy again, she just needed Granny and her old friends to fix everything.

*******

Psycho-Pirate lay on the floor and clutched his face in pain. He'd left the heroes alone momentarily and returned to the temple's centre in an effort to get away from all the powerful emotions. But he'd just been overcome with a feeling of despair so great that it rendered him motionless.

"N-No... I hate this… Go away!" Psycho-Pirate kicked around, feeling the great misery overtake him. Normally he would withstand negative emotions like this but something about this was more powerful than what he was used to dealing with. It felt like his whole body was being drained of all vitality. "I'm sorry, I really am!"

He powered through the feeling, slowly getting to his feet. His whole body shook but he tried to ignore how painful it felt. Psycho-Pirate ran as fast as he could back into the wall full of his victims and he instantly felt the problem.

The misery was much stronger now. He felt it radiating off the New God, Big Barda.

"Think happy thoughts, Barda…" Psycho-Pirate mumbled as he reached toward Barda with his arms outstretched. "For both our sakes..."

*******

The Barda had lost. Not just the battle against the Female Furies but lost the battle she'd fought ever since she and Scott ran away together. But this was how it was meant to be. They were all mindless pieces of Darkseid's machine and she would be, not necessarily happy, but willing to serve him as another gear in the machine.

Mad Harriet held Barda by one arm while Stompa had the other with Lashina leading the way through the halls of the orphanage.

"See Barda? This is what happens when you leave us? Don't be so silly next time." Lashina looked over her shoulder and smirked at Big Barda. "You need to be retrained, work you way back up from the bottom again. I'm in charge of the Furies now so you'll be under my rules. As well as Granny's."

All Barda could do was weakly nod as she felt the poison of despair sink deeper into her. She felt that her energy was wasted speaking.

"We all missed you, Barda." Mad Harriet giggled. "We can't wait to show you to Artemiz and Bernadeth, and Gilotina... We've all missed you so."

"Once we fix you up maybe you can help round up the other defectors." Stompa scoffed. "Bring back Knockout, pry her away from that silly girlfriend of hers."

Nodding was still all Barda had the energy for. The three Furies stopped dragging Barda around. She looked up and saw that she was inside a large empty room with a throne at the centre. A throne occupied by Granny Goodness.

"There you are, dearie. You shouldn't run away like that." Granny smiled that smile Barda knew so well. One that oozed condescension. "Tell me you're sorry."

"Granny, I'm-"

_"No! No, no, no, no, no!"_

All the women in the room looked up, hearing the strange echoing voice coming from seemingly nowhere.

"Did you hear that?" Lashina looked to Stompa and Harriet.

A Boom Tube opened up to Barda's right out from it tumbled Psycho-Pirate. He was breathing heavily as everyone was staring at him.

"You… You can't." Psycho-Pirate stumbled toward him.

"Girls, kill this interloper!" Granny Goodness barked. "I'll deal with Barda."

"I'm in control of the situation." Psycho-Pirate's words were cold and his breathing calmed down.

Everyone in the room except for Big Barda froze. Barda realized this and pulled herself away from Mad Harriet and Stompa's grip.

"What's going on? Who are you?" Barda mumbled, feeling her head start to clear up.

"Barda, Barda, it's me! Scott!" Psycho-Pirate yelled in a manic frenzy.

"Whuh- No you're not."

"Well, I'm a man in a tight red jumpsuit. Isn't that good enough?" Psycho-Pirate let go of Big Barda and smiled. "I'm- I'm so sorry about this. I bought this mutation of the Black Mercy… I need to manipulate it if I want you to have happy dreams. All this pain and hatred it's not fun."

"What are you talking about?" Big Barda stared at Psycho-Pirate.

"I'm so sorry, I don't want people to suffer. Look- Look, I'll make you happy. You like Scott don't you?"

"He's my husband, of course I love him."

"Good, good, good, I'll leave you alone then." Psycho-Pirate removed his mask and smiled at Barda. "You don't have to worry about a thing…"

The world around Big Barda went dark like someone had turned off every lightswitch in the world. She was alone and couldn't see a thing where she was.

"Hello? Where is everybody?"

Barda got no response as she wandered through the darkness. Eventually, she came across a door. There was nothing particularly special about it, it just seemed to be a door. Well, nothing special other than that it seemed to be the only thing that existed other than Barda. She reached out and opened the door, stepping through the threshold onto the other side.

The light on the other side was blinding at first, but soon her eyes adjusted. The room was made out of something shiny, although out of what specifically she couldn't tell. Everything was in bright colours. Whites, blues, reds, golds, and yellows.

Barda wandered through the open space she was in, recognizing it as looking a bit like her kitchen back on Earth. She saw another door and walked through it. On the other side was a room made of the same sort of material as the kitchen which she realized looked like her living room.

She immediately spotted her husband sitting on a chair and reading a book in his full Mister Miracle outfit.

"Scott!" Big Barda cried out, a wave of relief washing over her. She went up to Scott and hugged him.

"Uh, hi…" Scott smiled at Barda. "You, um, you should probably be quiet. You don't wanna wake the baby."

"Baby?"

"Our baby. Barda, are you feeling okay?"

Barda paused, thinking for a second. "Scott, can you answer a question for me?"

"Uh, sure."

"Where am I?"

"New Genesis, where else?"

Barda nodded and kissed Scott on the cheek. "I feel like I just woke up from a dream where nothing was quite right. But now I'm where I belong."

"Aww, that's sweet." Scott rubbed the top of Barda's helmet.

Barda wanted to stay the way she was. She couldn't remember why she was so upset and confused, only that there was a sense of dread that felt impossible to tame. But now that she was back where she belonged there was nothing to worry about.

Her mind was snapped out of his own thoughts when she heard something that sounded like knocking at the door.

"What was that?" Barda asked.

"I dunno, let's go see." Scott started to stand up from his chair. "Let's go see."

Barda nodded. She was overwhelmed by joy as her and Scott went to the door to see who was there for them. Why she felt this way was a mystery but she didn't care. When the door opened Orion was on the other side, wearing his usual serious expression.

"Barda, Mister Miracle, thank the Highfather I found you." Orion stepped into their home. "We must move, quickly."

"What's going on here, Orion?" Big Barda asked.

"You need to slow down." Scott added.

"Of course, sorry." Orion nodded, seeming to collect himself. "Stray forces of Apokolips have been spotted by the Forever People. We need to act quickly. We think Granny Goodness may be involved."

"Even after Darkseid's fall he still has followers, eh?" Scott sighed. "Alright, we'll see what we can do."

"His fall?" Barda sounded genuinely surprised. The simulation pumped false memories into Barda's head. She now remembered in vivid detail the defeat of Darkseid and how she, Scott, Orion, Lightray, and many others helped orchestrate his demise. "Hmm, oh, yes. Well, we must act quickly then. For the good of New Genesis!"

Barda felt like she had a new purpose in life. She had a family, Darkseid was gone, and New Genesis needed her to help protect it. She began to forget about her old life on Earth and just smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't take as long to write this as I thought I would which is good. I feel like I had more fun writing the Nightmare section than I did the Dream section. Don't know what that says about me. Anyway, the next chapter features Captain Marvel/Shazam/Billy Batson. So you have that to look forward to.


	7. Say the Magic Word

Billy gasped, pulling himself up from the floor and hovering in the air. He looked around and tried to get his bearings. It seemed that he was still inside the temple and that all his Justice League partners had mysteriously vanished.

"Hmmm… This doesn't seem good? I'd better go find them."

He put his hands out in front of them and flew forward down the strange stone corridor. As he pushed on he gradually became aware of a change in architecture around him. Stone became smoother and more uniform and fewer plants were growing. The walls eventually became a different colour. He stopped flying when the realization hit him.

"Wait… I know this place… The Rock of Eternity!"

Billy glanced around, seeing that yes, this place really was the Rock of Eternity. He had no idea how he got here or any clue why he was there at all. Slowly, Billy began flying forward further into the Rock.

He was greeted by a familiar sight up ahead, the petrified forms of the Seven Deadly Sins looking like scarily lifelike statues.

"Okay Batson, don't get freaked out. You've been through this before." Billy sighed, walking forward across the cold marble floors. "If I'm here that means the wizard wants to talk to me. You can do this" taking a deep breath, he continued forward past the Sins.

Eventually, he reached the familiar throne of the wizard Shazam. Billy looked at the wizard, who seemed less cheerful than usual. He was slumped forward in his throne and looking at the ground.

He'd never seen the wizard this weak looking before. It concerned Billy, he put out a cautious hand going forward.

"Are you okay?" Captain Marvel got up to the throne and looked over the wizard.

"Batson… There you are…" the wizard's voice was raspy. He tilted his head up slowly at Billy. "I was… I was thinking about you…"

"You were?"

"I was thinking… Why did I give you these powers?"

"What do you-"

"Do you know what I think of you, young Batson? You're a brat."

"What?" Billy took a few steps back. Even in his all-mighty Captain Marvel form he wasn't expecting to hear these words from the wizard. He especially hadn't been expecting the wizard to say these things.

The wizard rose from his throne and stepped forward towards Billy. His posture was completely rigid and his eyes stared directly into Captain Marvel's.

"Do you really think you're worthy of my power?" the wizard's words were cruel and cold. "I never asked you to share it with those friends of yours either…"

"Buh- But I've done such a good job. I'm… I'm a hero. Aren't I?"

"No. You're a child playing dress-up. You deserve none of this…" the wizard paused. "_Shazam!"_

Billy looked up at the sky and saw a lightning bolt coming down to strike him. This was something he was used to, but for some reason, it scared him this time. For one, usually it was him who sent down the lightning and not the wizard. The lightning struck Billy and just like that he was Captain Marvel no more, now he was just Billy Batson again.

"Hey! What happened?" Billy looked down at himself.

"You are weak, Batson. You and your family don't deserve my power!"

"No! Please give me my powers back. I help people with them, really!"

"The judgement of Shazam is final."

Billy looked around as he saw that the Rock of Eternity was crumbling around him. "Now what's happening! _Shazam!_" he cried out, hoping he'd still somehow transform. _"Shazam! Shazam!"_

The Rock of Eternity had collapsed completely, burying Billy there but somehow keeping him alive. He tried to push the stones away but it was futile, he was pinned down there and it seemed there was no escape.

He struggled and shoved against the heavy rocks but nothing would budge. After a couple of minutes pinned there with just him and his thoughts Billy felt something start to move. But when the rocks were moved out of the way he was met with the face of someone he'd rather not see; Black Adam.

"Hello, boy." Black Adam's dead, hate-filled gaze pierced Billy.

"Adam, I-" Billy was cut off when Black Adam grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him up.

"Oh how you have fallen, Batson. The World's Mightiest Mortal is no more."

"Let me go!" Billy struggled against Black Adam's grip but couldn't get his fist to budge.

"It's almost pathetic… I knew you were never worthy of this power."

*******

The cold stone floor was what Psycho-Pirate was currently calling home. He'd been lying there ever since he left Big Barda's mind. By now he'd absorbed so much emotion it had overloaded him just a little. He was beginning to lose control over himself.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god… I can't take this…" Psycho-Pirate twitched around. "Kara, Barda, Buddy, Dinah, Rex… I've had too much… Too… Too much… Too much emotion!"

He slowly picked himself up off the ground, stumbling backward. Right now Psycho-Pirate wanted nothing more to do with his victims. All he wanted was to leave, to feel the wind on his skin and see sunlight on his eyes.

But even as he tried to stumble out he felt like he couldn't leave. It was like a giant magnet was pulling him in towards the heroes.

"No, no, no… I'm not done… Am I? Yes, yes, there's still the other one… The Captain… Captain, Captain, Captain… Oh god, no! I want to go back!" Psycho-Pirate slapped himself in the face. "Shut up Roger! You need this…"

He turned back around and looked at where Captain Marvel was tied to the wall. "Yes, that's right… Captain Marvel, World's Mightiest Mortal… Imagine the kind of power that can be drained from that…"

Psycho-Pirate felt himself growing calm as he grasped the tangle of plants that had attached itself to Captain Marvel's chest.

"Tell me Captain, what do you dream of?"

*******

Billy had stared down Black Adam before but he'd always had his powers to back him up. Right now he was just a boy staring into the cold merciless face of a killer. All he really had left was the ability to talk his way out of this situation.

"C'mon Adam, you don't wanna do this!" Billy pleaded, still trying to wrench Black Adam's hands away from him.

"I've waited years for you to die. Without you around that's one less obstacle in my way." Black Adam cruelly smirked down at him.

"Sivana isn't going to like this. He always wanted to be the one to kill me."

"Oh no, a bald dwarf will want revenge on me. I'm so afraid." Black Adam chuckled. "Goodnight Batson, I'd say it's been a pleasure. But it hasn't."

"What? You don't normally talk like that, do you?"

"Hmm, what are you-"

Black Adam was cut off mid-sentence when his entire body abruptly became stone. This left Billy relieved but also terribly confused. Especially since Black Adam's hand was still wrapped around his neck.

_"Hello Captain Marvel… So sorry about Mr. Adam… I just wanted to protect you…"_ an echoey voice rang out around the rubble surrounding Billy.

The arm holding Billy on the now petrified Black Adam fell, shattering to bits around him. He breathed heavily, seemingly freaking out about the situation. Billy backed up and felt himself right up against a pair of legs. He looked up and saw the emotionless masked face of Psycho-Pirate staring down at him.

"Hello boy, so terribly sorry. I just got here. Have you seen Captain Marvel?"

"I- I am Captain Marvel."

"Oh… I see… This is some psychological manifestation of your inner fears."

"Whuh- What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"I'm the Psycho-Pirate of course, who else would I be?" Psycho-Pirate began to pace around Billy.

"Psycho-Pirate? Wasn't I supposed to… Where am I right now?" Billy looked up at Psycho-Pirate, following him with his gaze.

"It's all my fault, it really is! Woodrue, he made this all sound like a good idea. All this- All this absorbing negative emotions it's draining on me! I just want you to be happy, Captain."

"Nothing you're saying makes sense." Billy stood up and stared down Psycho-Pirate, mustering up what courage he had. "I'm not afraid of you! I've faced tougher than you!"

"You shouldn't fear me." Psycho-Pirate took off his mask. "I'm here to give you the best life you could possibly have."  
"Just shut up! You're not making any sense!"

"Fine." Psycho-Pirate frowned and put his mask back on. "Fine, I'll leave you alone. Enjoy your new life, Captain… Wherever it may be. You're not like the others… I don't know much about you. It's all for the plant to decide..."

"Plant?! What are you talking about?" Billy watched as Psycho-Pirate turned and began to walk away. The world around Billy began to fade into nothingness. "No! Now what's going on? Pirate! Come back here!"

Billy got no response, it was just him in the darkness. The lack of light was not helping. He clamped his eyes shut. He stayed like that for a while, he wasn't sure for how long. It felt like it lasted at least several minutes. He was only brought out of this state when he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Hey, Billy! You in there?" the voice was accompanied by a knocking at the door.

"Freddy?" Billy opened his eyes and realized he was sitting on the edge of his bed. He looked around, realizing that the room was much cleaner than usual. But other than that, everything was as it should be.

"Billy, can we come in there?" the voice said again from outside the door.

"Um, yeah, sure, come on in." Billy nodded and stood up from the bed.

The door to the bedroom slowly opened up and in stepped Freddy and Mary. All seemed normal at first until Billy noticed something was different about Freddy. He walked without the aid of his crutches.

"Freddy, your legs!" Billy had to do a double-take with how shocked he was.

"Uh, what about them, Billy?" Freddy seemed to be legitimately confused by Billy's reaction.

"I thought you, y'know, couldn't walk."

"Are you kidding? Ever since you shared your powers with me I've been able to walk just fine. It's a miracle."

"Billy, are you feeling okay?" Mary stepped closer and put her hand on his forehead. "You don't have a fever or anything, do you?"

"No, no, I'm okay. I, uh, slept in today and have been feeling weird." Billy made himself smile.

"Well, you woke up just in time." Mary smiled back.

"Yeah, Uncle Dudley made us some pancakes." Freddy nodded.

"He did? Awesome! Let's go get some." Billy started making his way out of the room. He had this feeling that he was forgetting something, but that didn't matter now. He was Captain Marvel, he was with his family, and his uncle was going to make him some pancakes. All was good in the world.

*******

He had done it, Psycho-Pirate absorbed enough emotions from every hero he could find. To him, he'd done them a service. After all, he would love to be trapped in a paradise like they were. Where nothing ever went wrong and he got just what he wanted

"I need to leave… I need to leave…" Psycho-Pirate choked a little bit, lying on his stomach and dragging himself across the stone floor. "No more, no more… They're all happy and I want to be happy. I want to go home!"

Rational thought came to Psycho-Pirate's head again and he slowly picked himself up off the ground. He incoherently mumbled to himself. He was disoriented, tired, but it felt like he'd won.

All the heroes were trapped by his doing and he had enough power to last him a long time now. But if everything was just fine, why was he having so much trouble leaving?

Psycho-Pirate looked back at them, he was drawn in particular to Kara Zor-L, Earth-Two's Power Girl. He was one of the only people who had full memories of what happened to the old Earth-Two. Not even she remembered everything in full detail. He wished he could be with her in the imaginary world the plants built for her.

"No! I want to leave! Stupid mask!" Psycho-Pirate clawed at his own masked golden face. "Why won't you let me leave?!"

His screams fell on unlistening ears. Nobody else in the room could hear him. It was just Psycho-Pirate and his thoughts.

*******

Billy, Mary, and Freddy made it to breakfast and just like was promised, their adoptive uncle Dudley had made them pancakes.

"Here ya go kids, fresh pancakes with maple syrup. That's the Dudley H. Dudley guarantee." Dudley chuckled.

"Thanks uncle Dudley, this is awesome." Freddy cut himself a pad of butter to put on top of his pancakes.

"Yeah, some days it's nice to just have a day at home." Billy said between bites of his breakfast.

"Yep, we sent Dr. Sivana and Mister Mind back to venus and we haven't heard from Black Adam in a while so everything is just peachy keen." Mary chuckled.

"Everything's just perfect." Billy sighed, feeling an odd sense of peace. "Still, would be nice to have an adventure some time."

"Well, let's just see what's on the radio for now." Dudley got up from his seat and went to the radio he had up on the counter. After turning it on, the machine crackled to life and he sat back down.

_"Breaking news from WHIZ radio, the radioactive android known as Mister Atom has appeared and is making its way toward Fawcett City as we speak!"_

"Huh, so much for a peaceful breakfast." Freddy remarked, putting down his fork.

"You kids can stop Mister Atom first then eat your breakfast." Dudley chuckled.

"Justice never rests." Mary smiles and stands up from the chair. _"Shazam!"_

A flash of light went by and just like that Mary Batson was transformed into the sensational Mary Marvel. Freddy and Billy nodded and stood up from their chairs.

_"Shazam!"_ both boys yelled, transforming into Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior.

"Alright, ready to get out there?" Freddy asked.

"You know I am." Billy nodded.

"I'll catch up with you kids once I get my costume on. This looks like a job for Uncle Marvel." Dudley ducked out of the room to go find his costume.

Once he was gone, Mary, Freddy, and Billy huddled up together.

"Alright, you all ready?" Freddy asked.

"Without a doubt." Mary said.

"Let's go show Mister Atom that you shouldn't mess with the Marvel Family!" Billy proudly declared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Billy's fantasy world at the end is semi-inspired by Golden Age Captain Marvel comics. Mister Atom is an actual Golden Age Captain Marvel villain that doesn't really show up anymore. So is that throwaway line of Dr. Sivana being in exile on Venus, that used to be an actual thing in the comics. Anyway, I hope to have the next chapter up sooner than this one.


	8. Waking Up from Paradise

The streets of Gotham City had never been safer than they were for the past several hours. Karen Starr, Power Girl, and her best friend Helena Wayne, the Huntress, had been patrolling the streets of Earth-Two's Gotham for a couple of hours now. Most of the small-time thugs were frightened away by Power Girl alone but the two girls still had fun together. Eventually, the two of them decided to give all the crime-fighting a break and they rested on a rooftop together, staring out over the cityscape.

"It's funny, from here the city looks kinda beautiful." Helena sighed.

"I know, I missed this place… The one they had in the new Earth I ended up on. It looked the same… But not quite. That's how everything was there." Karen glanced over at her friend. "But this place… This is how it's all meant to be."

"We've got a bright future ahead of us, you and I. Batman's daughter and Superman's cousin; the next generation of the World's Finest." Helena smiled at Karen and sighed a little. "I miss my dad…"

"Everyone does, like you said, he was one of the world's greatest heroes." Karen comfortingly put her hand on Helana's shoulder. "But we've got a bright future to look forward to."

"You're right… Y'know, that reminds me of something Mr. Terrific told me the other day. He said-"

"Wait, hold on? Mr. Terrific? Terry or Michael?" Power Girl cut off her friend.

Helena raised an eyebrow at Karen. "What? Terry of course. Who's Michael?"

"On my world Michael Holt was the new Mr. Terrific after Terry Sloane… After he died. How is he still alive?"

Huntress put a hand on Power Girl's outer thigh. "Kara, what are you talking about?"

"You were there Huntress, weren't you? Mr. Terrific, he was murdered when we went to Earth-One for a party with the Justice League… Don't you- Don't you remember?"

"Nuh- No, everything's fine on this Earth. He's alive."

That one tiny lapse in logic was all it took for the false world around Power Girl to begin slowly crumbling down. Details that were missing started to fall into Karen's head. She stood up from the ledge she was on and looked down at Helena. "Helena, can you tell me something… What year is it?"

"1985..." Helena stated, standing up and eyeing Karen with some concern. "Is everything okay?"

"How can that work, Helena? How can it be the '80s here but thirty years later on my world? I… I remember a lot more than that too. I feel like my memory goes on for more years than I've been alive. Does that make any sense?"

Helena is silent but she holds on to Power Girl. "Listen, Kara, I don't know what's going on but you're scaring me. I… I just got my best friend back and I don't want to lose her, okay." Tears welled up in Helena's eyes.

"No, no, everything today… It's been too perfect. Nothing is matching up right now I- I need time to think." Karen tried to pull away from Huntress but she didn't have the heart ot it.

"Please Kara, please don't go… We all miss you so much…" Huntress tried to shake Power Girl but of course, the Kryptonian would not budge.

"No! I can't do this!" Power Girl finally found it in her to push Huntress away from her. "You're not… You're not… Oh god, you're not real!"

"Kara?" Helena whimpered. "Please come back? I don't want you to leave again!"

Karen closed her eyes and tried to tune out Helena's pleas. By now she was reasonably sure that nothing around her was real. But even so, she felt that she owed this version of her friend an apology. "I'm sorry Helena. I love you and… And rest in peace."

She kept her eyes clenched shut as tight as she could and eventually all of Helena's yelling and pleading faded away and was replaced with what sounded like a man crying and whimpering instead. That wasn't the only change in the environment. The air felt colder and more sterile and there was a distinct dusty smell in the air.

Power Girl opened her eyes and she instantly recognized where the was, the temple. All of a sudden the old memories came flooding back. She remembered why she'd been sent here. The temple, the disappearances, and her team. It was then that Karen became aware of one other person in the room with her. A man who she had somewhat of a history with; Psycho-Pirate.

"You…" Karen reached up and grabbed the plants that were entangling her, ripping them off of her and causing her to fall to the ground. "What did you do to me?"

Psycho-Pirate smiled beneath the mask when he saw that Karen had woken up. "Finally, someone to talk to!"

Power Girl was confused by his presence. She walked over to him and picked him up off the ground by his collar, scowling at him. "Alright, start talking. What was that and why did you do it?"

"I was saving you, Kara. I wanted you to be happy…" Psycho-Pirate started laughing. "Weren't you happy? It was nice to be back home, wasn't it?"

"It wasn't real… None of it was." Karen felt the level of her rage beginning to grow.

Psycho-Pirate reached up and took off his mask, a manic smile spread across his face. "Kara, Kara, look at me… Smile, alright?"

Karen's mind felt like it wasn't her own in that moment. She began laughing uncontrollably and let go of Psycho-Pirate. Once he was free he put the Medusa Mask back over his face and began to flee the scene, hurrying off into the temple and away from Power Girl.

*******

It had been several months since Black Canary started her new idyllic life in the suburbs with Oliver. But it wasn't sunshine and rainbows all the time, there were still bad guys out there and Dinah was ready for them.

It almost felt like one of those serialized adventure cartoons Dinah watched when she was a kid. Every week there was a new threat but Dinah and Ollie were ready for anything.

This week's adventure pitted Dinah against the crazy contraptions of the Clock King. The conniving clockwork crook had kidnapped Dinah's ally and best friend Barbara "Oracle" Gordon. Of course, in typical supervillain fashion, he'd left clues on how to find and rescue her before time ran out.

Oliver, Dinah, and Dinah senior had hopped into Ollie's old Arrowcar and were racing toward the warehouse that was supposed to have Barbara in it.

"You know something, it's been a while since we've driven around in this thing, hasn't it?" Dinah smirked at Oliver. "Don't you think it looks kinda silly?"

"You kidding? I love this car." Oliver chuckled, speeding up in it.

"You're just copying Batman." Dinah's mom decided to join in on the playful jokes.

"Well, okay, maybe a little." Oliver nodded.

"Let's take this seriously though. We don't know what Clock King might be up to." Dinah cracked her knuckles in preparation for the oncoming fight.

"Don't worry, there's nothing we can't handle." Oliver smirked as he slowly brought the car to a screeching stop. "C'mon girls, let's get in there!"

Green Arrow and the two Black Canaries got out of the car. Dinah Drake turned to her daughter. "Ready for action, kiddo?"

"You know I am." Dinah nodded at her mom. "Remember, if things get hairy in there we can call for backup. We've got hotlines that'll call in Mia, Roy, or Connor." Oliver put a hand on Dinah junior's shoulder. "Heh, but something tells me the three of us can handle it. C'mon, let's go on."

The three of them began scaling the side of the warehouse, the end goal being the skylight above. As the climbed, Dinah took the opportunity to converse with her mother.

"Y'know mom, there's one thing I still don't understand." Dinah glanced up at her mother.

"Oh yeah? And what's that, junior?" Dinah senior grinned.

"How are you still alive… And so old. You used to hang out with the Justice Society."

"I've told you about this, haven't I? After we all disbanded the JSA all kinda got stuck in this dimension where we didn't age. It was nice there. And, y'know, by the time we got back it had been decades."

"But that doesn't make any sense. Right now you look like you're the same age as me."

"Hey girls, let's keep it quiet. We don't want Clock King to overhear us." Green Arrow whispered down to his wife and mother-in-law.

The trio arrived on the roof and prepped for action, sneaking up to the glass skylight and looking down. Dinah peered through the glass and got a good view of what was going on below.

It appeared that Clock King had trapped Barbara inside of a giant-sized hourglass that was slowly dropping sand on top of her.

"C'mon, let's get in there and show Clock King that she shouldn't mess with the Arrow family!" Dinah senior encouraged her daughter.

"These guys we fight keep getting sillier." Dinah muttered. "It wasn't like this at all…"

"What do you mean?" Oliver turned to Dinah, seeming confused.

"Everything seems strange… Last week, when we fought Count Vertigo. He had that House of Dizziness." Dinah said. "That wasn't like him at all…"

"You're overthinking things, junior. Just try to have fun." Dinah senior chuckled.

"That's another thing. I don't remember you calling me kiddo and junior before… Before… Before something."

"Dinah, I think you're overthinking things. It's like your mom said." Oliver put a hand on Dinah's shouulders. "Stop thinking, get in there, and have fun."

"I just feel like there's something…" as Dinah trailed off her vision flash. She saw a large stone chamber with a familiar looking blonde woman laughing on the floor. "What was that?!"

"Hey, junior, are you okay?" Dinah senior held on to her daughter.

"Mom, I just saw something… I don't… I think I might be going crazy…" Dinah paused.

"Dinah, stay with us." Oliver said.

"Hold on… I want to see it again…" Dinah closed her eyes. "It was only for a second but it felt… It felt more real…" Her mind began to disassociate form her body. She remembered the brief flash of the stone room. She tried getting all the details and after just a few seconds everything changed.

Oliver and her mom's presence seemed to go away and she felt her position change. It felt like she was no long kneeling on a roof but instead being tied to a wall. When she opened her eyes, she realized that was exactly what was going on. And it wasn't just her, she saw her heroic colleagues had befallen the exact same fate.

Her eyes went to the floor where she saw Karen writhing around laughing, seemingly in pain. "Karen! Hey, get up!" Dinah paused, seeming worried. "I need help! Power girl, please..."

Dinah's voice was enough to bring Power Girl out of her trance. Karen looked up at Black Canary, slowly picking herself up from the ground.

"Dinah… What… What's going on?" Karen rubbed her head as she got to her feet.

Black Canary tried ripping the plants on her body away but couldn't tear them. "Can you help me out… I don't know what happened… I'm still trying to figure out what's going on exactly."

Karen nodded and went up to Dinah, ripping the plants down with ease. "I recognize these… Superman, he's shown them to me before. It's something called Black Mercy, apparently Mongul used it on him before." She tore down the vines and helped Dinah down. "Psycho-Pirate's the one who did this… I'll help the others escape, you go after him."

"Psycho-Pirate? I saw him… In that fake world." Dinah rubbed her head.

"I'm strong enough to tear through the vines. Me and the others, we'll catch up with you later." Power Girl pointed down the hallways Psycho-Pirate left through. "Go, stop Psycho-Pirate!"

"I'll do my best." Dinah quickly nodded and sprinted off out of the room.

Karen nodded as Black Canary hurried off. Once she was gone, Power Girl turned around back to the remaining four heroes. It was time for them to wake up.

*******

Things were going just fantastically in the life of Buddy Baker. He was a successful superhero with a wonderful family and it seemed that the world at large was finally making a change for a better future.

Recently, it had turned out that he and several other superheroes were receiving awards for their services in helping the environment. Buddy thought of himself as a humble man and figured an award ceremony would only really serve to inflate his ego. But Ellen had encouraged him to go, so there he was.

He looked around stage at the other heroes. There were a few people he recognized in the group of heroes receiving the awards; Vixen and B'wana Beast most chiefly. Someone had even convinced Swamp Thing to show up for this. What surprised him most was a woman calling herself Poison Ivy being awarded. They hadn't met, but he knew her by reputation as an enemy of Batman and part of the original Injustice Gang. But apparently, she'd done something worthy of receiving honours like this.

Buddy glanced over at Vixen and whispered. "Hard to believe we're doing this, right? I mean, I never really considered Animal Man to be a big deal or anything. It was kinda always just something I did for fun."

"I know what you mean." Vixen nodded, whispering. "Originally I just wanted to do this superhero thing as something fun between modelling jobs. But now it's good to know that we're making a difference."

"I hear you, Mari." Buddy smiled. "We've saved the world… Heh, I always wanted to say that."

_"Animal Man!"_ a female voice called out from somewhere seemingly above Buddy.

"Did you say something, Vixen?" Buddy whispered.

"No, I didn't are you-"

And just like that Vixen, the award ceremony, everything, it was gone. He was left lying on the floor of somewhere cold and dark with Power Girl prying a plant off of his face. Only one thing in that sentence was comforting to him.

"Oh… Hey there Power Girl… The last thing I remember is Big Barda landing on top of me and then…" Animal Man muttered as he rubbed his slightly sore cheek. "How long was I out."

"No idea, Psycho-Pirate nabbed us. Canary went after him, she could be in trouble." Power Girl spoke fast, wanting to relay the information to him as quickly and efficiently as possible. "Go help her, I'll break the others out."

"Okay, got it. I'll stop him!" Buddy reached into the life-web and pulled the powers of an eagle, he hovered off the ground and flew down the hall.

Karen watched him leave and went to break the next hero out of their slumber.

*******

Never before had New Genesis looked so beautiful. Barda had seen it before but had never focused. Even now it looked more majestic than she could even imagine. She stayed in the back, following Mister Miracle and Orion through some sort of town square.

"I never realized how wondrous New Genesis was." Big Barda smiled, looking at the crystal spires and golden buildings that rose around her.

"With the Highfather overseeing us, there is nothing that can go wrong." Orion said.

"I am in awe of these wonders." Barda nodded, looking around the area. "You were saying something about… About Darkseid having been defeated."

"Don't you remember?" Mister Miracle asked. "You helped. I know you were very tired after but I figured you'd remember something so important. We even built a statue."

"A statue?" Barda raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, right here. Behold!" Orion stopped walking and gestured to a large statue in the centre of the square that Barda could have sworn wasn't there a moment ago.

A statue of Darkseid being attacked by her, Mister Miracle, Orion, Lightray, the Forever People, and few others was proudly displayed. There was a plaque at the base of the statue with the words "Fall of Darkseid" engraved into it.

"So he's really gone?" Barda asked.

"Yes, he has some supporters left but most of them are scattered. We're working to turn Apokolips into a more habitable place." Orion explained.

"Isn't that great, Barda? New Genesis and Apokolips finally have a brighter future." Mister Miracle smiled.

"You're right, I'm… I'm happy." Barda held on to Scott's hand.

_"Barda! Are you in there!"_ a female voice called down from above.

"Who was that? Granny?" Barda looked around quickly.

"Barda, is everything okay?" Mister Miracle held Barda by the arm.

"I- I feel…" Barda stopped talking as the whole world snapped out of existence and was replaced by the image of Power Girl tearing a tangle of plants off of her body.

"Ahh… Oh… What happened?" Barda fell to the ground and began picking herself up from the ground.

"Psycho-Pirate, he captured us. Trapped us. C'mon, we still need to get Captain Marvel and Metamorpho out of here." Power Girl explained as she helped Barda stand up again.

"Thank you…" Barda muttered. "Alright, you help the Captain and I'll help Metamorpho."

"Right." Power Girl nodded. "We cover more ground that way."

*******

The gargantuan automaton known as Mister Atom was no more. Thanks to the combined teamwork of Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. the hulking android had been defeated. Once he was out of the way they gathered to have their pictures taken for the local paper.

"Golly, it sure is wonderful to be celebrated like this!" Mary waved to the cameras.

"You said it, Mary. No matter how many times we do this, it feels great to be a hero!" Freddy nodded.

"It's not just about fame or feeling good. Remember, we're doing this because it's what's right." Billy glanced over at the other two, still waving at the crowd. "We could have used some backup though."

"Yeah, I know." Freddy nodded. "Probably should have called in the Lieutenant Marvels to help us out. Darla's always so happy to help."

"We'll be sure to remember that next time Dr. Sivana gets down from Venus, which I'm sure he will." Mary glanced at Billy. "But for now, let's just enjoy ourselves."

In the outside world, Barda and Power Girl were getting more frantic and desperate to tear off the plants. Billy turned to the crowd and smiles.

"Thank you every-" In a flash, Billy was ripped from the dream world. He stared at Big Barda ripping the plants away from his body. "One-" His eyes darted around. "Where am I!"

"Don't worry, I'm confused too." Barda helped Captain Marvel down from where he was trapped. "We were captured, I don't quite understand it."

Billy looked around and saw Power Girl struggling to rip a similar mass of plants off of Metamorpho. "Can someone please give me a rundown?"

"No time!" Karen yelled, pulling against the plant. "This one's stuck good! Must be something about Rex's weird element body! Someone help me!"

*******

It had been about a week now, everything was perfect in Rex Mason's life. Right now he was relaxing on the balcony of Stagg Manor while his butler Java helped his kids to bed.

"Ah, what a beautiful night…" Rex sighed, staring off at the beautiful view ahead of him.

"You admiring the stars again?" Sapphire walked up behind Rex and hugged him. "It's not as beautiful as you."

"Heh, that's kind of a sappy line." Rex chuckled. "That's just why I like you Sapph."

"Aww, thanks." Sapphire kissed him on the chek. "So, anything you wanna do tonight? Daddy's hanging out with his business friends, kids are asleep, Java's doing whatever he does with his free time. It's just you and me."

"Well, I'm glad for that." Rex chuckled and glanced at her.

"Rex, I just want to let you know something." Sapphire sighed. Rex started listening but the words that next came out of Sapphire's mouth surprised him. _"Come on Metamorpho, get up!"_

"What?!" Rex jumped back. "What did you say? Who's Metamorpho?"

"Rex are you okay?" Sapphire stepped away from her husband. "Isn't Metamorpho what Element Girl sometimes calls herself?"

"Yeh- Yeah… Right…" Rex nodded.

Sapphire opened her mouth again. _"Rex! We know you're in there!"_

When Rex blinked Sapphire and the balcony were gone and instead he was back into his constantly changing morphic form with three other superheroes working hard to remove some sort of plantlike growth from his face.

"Oh… My head…" Metamorpho fell to the ground and started picking himself up from the ground and looked at Billy, Karen, and Barda. "Where the hell are we?"

"Still in the temple, it seems." Barda explained.

"Psycho-Pirate's the one behind this, we need to stop him." Power Girl said, almost becoming an expert at relaying this story at this point. "Buddy and Dinah are after him, let's go!"

And with that, Barda, Billy and Karen took off with Rex following close after.

"Why does being a superhero have to be so confusing." Rex groaned.

*******

The halls of the temple seemed so confusing. So many twists and turns every which way. Dinah and Buddy couldn't tell if Psycho-Pirate was trying to disorient them or if he was just as lost as they were.

Psycho-Pirate had begun laughing and not even he knew why. Nothing about this situation was amusing. Thanks to his own greed for emotion, his plans were coming undone around him.

"He's really losing it, isn't he?" Buddy remarked as he flew alongside Dinah.

"Seems like it… Is he always like this?" Dinah replied as she ran.

"I think I've fought him before… Can't remember where or why. But he was pretty loopy back then." Buddy replied. "Hey, you cover me, I'm gonna speed up."

Reaching into the Life Web, Animal Man called upon the powers of an impala and flew far ahead of Dinah. He swooped in front of Psycho-Pirate, making the villain stop.

"Alright Pirate, end of the line." Buddy said.

"I don't think so…" Psycho-Pirate began slowly removing his mask. "Be afraid, be very afraid."

Animal Man was suddenly overcome with fear, the man in front of him seemed like a nightmarish beast.

Dinah acted quickly, unleashing her sonic screech attack. It caused both Animal Man and Psycho-Pirate to drop to the ground and cover their ears. She ran over to Psycho-Pirate as quickly as she could and kicked him in the back, standing on top of him. "It's over now!"

"No, no, no! It's not over, it's never over!" Psycho-Pirate desperately reached forward for his mask.

But Psycho-Pirate's desperate pleas were met by four new figures on the scene; Power Girl, Captain Marvel, Metamorpho, and Big Barda. Billy and Karen stood over Psycho-Pirate's dazed body while Barda and Rex helped Buddy up from the ground.

Despite his apparent defeat, Psycho-Pirate would not stop laughing. "I'm unstoppable, don't you see! The Medusa Mask! Your emotions are my playthings!" He kept desperately reaching for his mask, mere inches out of his reach. "Captain, I could make you rip A-Man's spine out! Or Kara, you could burn a hole in Barda's head with your eyes! Dinah could shout so loud that all of us bleed from the ears… In a psychically induced fit of rage who knows what could happen!"

"Shut up!" Karen kicked the Mask out of Psycho-Pirate's grasp. "It's over, you lost."

His rant seemed to have taken the last of Psycho-Pirate's energy and he lay limp against the cold stone, muttering to himself. "Not fair… None of it's fair… I just wanted to be happy…"

Karen cast one last glare at him before addressing the rest of his team. "Dinah, Rex, Buddy, Barda, you get this guy outside and to the proper authorities. I saw some others trapped by the Black Mercy, members of Cave Carson's team. Me and Captain Marvel will free them."

Buddy nodded as he and Dinah went to prop up Psycho-Pirate's half-unconscious body. But before they could do anything Barda casually lifted him up and slung him over her shoulder.

"Let's go." She looked back at the other's. "I need to get home to Scott."

"Same here." Buddy nodded. "Ellen and the kids always worry about me."

"Ollie doesn't worry about me, but it's always nice to see him after a long day." Dinah agreed.

"Same with Sapphire, she always brightens my day." Metamorpho chimed in.

"I have people I see in my free time too. I'm just not at liberty to talk about them. For personal reasons." Captain Marvel spoke up, glancing at Power Girl. "Uh, c'mon, let's cut those other guys down."

"Good idea, Cap." Karen glanced at the other four. "See you all outside. It's been a long day, we need some rest after this."

And with that, the heroes went their separate ways. All were ready for some well deserved rest after what Psycho-Pirate put them through. After a few finishing touches to their mission, everyone could return to their real paradise. Not the one constructed in their minds.

**The End**


End file.
